


Miraculous: Into the Mari-Verse

by tacomuerte



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Additional Tags As We Go, Adrinette, F/F, F/M, Identity Reveal, Kwami Swap Week 2019, No Other Kwami Bearers on the Hero Side so AU post-Season 1, chlonette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-04 06:18:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17299343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tacomuerte/pseuds/tacomuerte
Summary: During a battle with Hawk Moth’s latest akuma, Ladybug is exposed to a quantum warp creating a multiversal cascade pulling multiple versions of herself into her universe. Even worse, Marinette finds she’s no longer in possession of the Ladybug Miraculous, but the Butterfly Miraculous, making her the new, heroic Hawk Moth.Accompanied by the always-faithful Chat Noir, our Marinette has to track down and unite the various incarnations of herself, figure out where the former Hawk Moth is with her Miraculous, make an out-of-control akuma use his powers to fix a hole in the universe, and prevent an invasion from an alternate reality… oh, and she’s definitely going to workshop her hero name because anything’s better than Hawk Moth.No big deal, right?





	1. Meet the Miraculous Ladybug!

_Alright, people. Let’s do this one last time._

_My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I was chosen by the Guardian to bear the Ladybug Miraculous and for two years, I’ve been Ladybug, one half of Paris’ top crime-fighting duo, alongside my partner, Chat Noir. I’m pretty famous, so I’m sure you know the rest…_

_Fought a bunch of akuma, fell in love with the sweetest boy in the world, thwarted Hawk Moth’s plans, fought even more akuma, and then I thwarted Hawk Moth’s plans again… and again… and again…_

_I’ve had statues dedicated to me, entire websites written about me, pastries named after me, even a televised Christmas special in my honor. Only thing I’m missing is a catchy theme song._

_Sure, it’s not all roses and sunshine. These akumas are dangerous and I’ve watched too many friends become pawns of Hawk Moth. Luckily, I’ve been able to save them and the city every time._

_But even with all the danger, I still love being Ladybug. Who wouldn’t?_

_So no matter how many weird akumas with even weirder powers come at me, I’m always ready to save the day because the only thing standing between this city and Hawk Moth’s evil plans is my partner and me._

_There’s only one Ladybug._

_And you’re looking at her._

* * *

Ladybug landed on the roof beside Chat Noir, who seemed to have just gotten there himself. Across the street, there was an akuma attacking some sort of scientific conference. Ladybug hadn’t been able to get all the details before she arrived. It didn’t look _too_ bad. Sure, there was some smoke and such, but there weren’t any hordes of panicked, screaming Parisians fleeing en masse. At least, not yet.

“What are we looking at, Kitten?” she asked.

“Some guy calling himself Quantum Menace. Seems he was laughed out of the conference this morning over his theories.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “You didn’t see the news report?”

“No,” Ladybug answered, hoping she didn’t sound too annoyed. “I was… occupied.”

By occupied, she meant that she had spent the entire morning fending off some convoluted scheme of Chloé’s involving the pet adoption charity event Ladybug was organizing in her civilian identity. The rich brat was trying to frame her for selling kittens on the black market so she’d be removed from the televised adoption event and Chloé could oh-so-innocently take over co-hosting duties with Adrien.

Chloé’s inane plot had been so disruptive, Ladybug had almost missed the chance to see her parents off on their well-earned two-week vacation, the first one they had taken in years.

“Occupied?” Chat asked, smirking. “Busy fending off unworthy suitors?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Hardly,” she answered. She’d rather deal with ten boys she wasn’t interested in asking her out than one Chloé Bourgeois. “And let’s focus. Dangerous akuma, remember?”

Chat laughed as he leapt off the roof, spinning on a street lamp to launch himself towards the conference center where the akuma was. Ladybug followed hot on his heels. 

“I have a purr-fect memory, Bugaboo! Don’t worry, we’ll have this sorted in no time and you can tell your loyal kitty all about your dating woes!” he shouted as he scampered into the building.

Less than two minutes later, Ladybug decided that Chat’s timetable was optimistic at best.

“Chat!” Ladybug shouted, hoping her partner could hear her over the chaos and destruction. “Get everyone out of here while I keep the akuma occupied!” 

Trusting her partner, Ladybug didn’t take a chance to see if Chat had heard, instead focusing on dodging the purple energy blasts coming her way while trying to keep this Quantum Menace in her line of sight. He was hard to track through the smoke—and the water pouring from the sprinklers the smoke had set off. It didn’t help that his costume in his akumatized form was dark purple with dark green accents and a constantly shifting starfield pattern swirling where his face should be.

Fortunately for her, the akuma was less focused on blasting her to smithereens and more on ranting about never being taken seriously and how he’d show them all what a mistake it was to mock his theories. 

“On it, LB!” Chat responded as he flipped over some debris to the huddled group of scientists cowering by the wall. As there wasn’t any way out of the room that didn’t involve trying to get twenty-odd panicked civilians past a furious akuma, Chat shouted, “Cataclysm!” and disintegrated the nearest section of wall.

As he ushered the civilians outside, Ladybug breathed out a relieved sigh. Now she could fully focus on stopping this akuma.

The conference room was a shambles. Somehow the akuma had the ability to twist things up, as evidenced by chairs physically joined to walls and ceilings, sections of desks and projection screens that seemed to just end as if they’d been cut into pieces by the finest blade although where the other parts had gone was something Ladybug wasn’t sure she even wanted to know.

Fortunately, her Miraculous Ladybug should be able to fix the damage once this was over. It hadn’t failed her yet. 

She refocused her mind on the battle at hand. This akuma was dangerous, but she was starting to get a handle on him. He only fired energy blasts from his right hand. Maybe that meant whatever object housed the akuma was in his left hand, which was encased in a heavy, clawed gauntlet. 

As she dodged the fortieth or so energy blast, she took some small comfort in the fact that she’d managed to maneuver the akuma into a corner where she could try and close on him.

Just as she spun her yo-yo to attack him, Quantum Menace swiped the claws of his left hand in the air, tearing some sort of hole in the air that he jumped through.

“Oh, come on!” she growled as Quantum Menace popped up in the opposite corner of the conference room. Okay, scratch the earlier plan. Energy blasts from the right hand and some sort of teleportation power with the left hand. Great.

“What’s the deal, LB?” Chat called out as he returned. 

“Energy blasts, fusing objects together somehow, oh and he can teleport,” she summed up. 

“Fun,” Chat replied, narrowing his eyes at the akuma.

“You’ll never stop me, Ladybug!” the akuma shouted. “You and your sidekick can’t stand against the universal omnipotence of the Quantum Menace!”

“Sidekick?” Chat muttered, scandalized. “Really?”

“Ignore him, Pretty Kitty,” Ladybug teased. “I know your value.”

“Then let’s teach him that lesson,” Chat smirked as his Miraculous beeped. “Four minutes,” he added to Ladybug’s unspoken question. “Plenty of time.”

“Stop ignoring me!” Quantum Menace screamed, firing a blast that hit the desk in front of the heroic duo, which turned the object into metal.

“Okay, add transmutation to the list,” Ladybug sighed. “Hawk Moth’s outdone himself this time.”

“Oh, no!” Chat taunted Quantum Menace. “You’ve turned a piece of furniture into metal. How can we ever defeat someone who can do that.”

“Not just metal,” Quantum Menace smiled, voice laced with wicked glee. “Pure magnesium.”

Ladybug’s eyes widened at the now smoking metal. Magnesium… the sprinklers…

She barely had time to grab Chat and leap away before the magnesium desk exploded. They were still caught in the shock wave of the blast, though, and flung across the room, landing in the rubble.

The first thing Ladybug noticed as she came back to her senses was the ringing in her ears that seemed to nearly drown out every other sound. The akuma was talking, but he had the telltale butterfly pattern around his face, which meant he was communicating with Hawk Moth. That didn’t surprise her. This was usually about the time that Hawk Moth got impatient and started demanding the akuma just charge in and try to take their Miraculous.

Shaking her head clear, she picked out Quantum Menace’s next words.

“I’ve got a better plan,” he crowed, before raking his claws through the air again, opening another hole. This time instead of jumping through it, he reached in with his gauntlet and pulled through a man wearing a silver helmet and dark purple suit.

Her eyes widened. Quantum Menace had brought Hawk Moth here! This was a chance to end his evil plans once and for all!

Struggling to her feet, she cut her eyes over to her partner where he lay a couple meters away. He was unconscious, but she could see he was still breathing.

If Chat’s injuries were serious, she could use Miraculous Ladybug to heal him, but right now there was no time to waste. She had to handle this on her own, and just hope she’d be able to reach Chat before his transformation timed out.

“What have you done, you fool?!” Hawk Moth snarled at his akuma while Ladybug tried to regain her footing. That explosion had done a number on her balance.

Quantum Menace sneered at Hawk Moth. “You want their Miraculous? I can get you any Miraculous you want! All I have to do is reach into another universe and grab them!”

Ladybug’s eyes widened in shock. That was terrifying, if it was true. She had to stop this akuma immediately. At least the two of them arguing was giving her time to recover. 

She’d stop them. 

She had to.

She was Ladybug.

“Then why am I here?” Hawk Moth demanded.

“Opening a trans-universal portal takes concentration,” Quantum Menace snapped. “And I can’t defend myself while I’m doing it. Fend her off while I get you your precious Miraculous.”

Hawk Moth turned his gaze on Ladybug with an evil smile. “This had better work, Quantum Menace,” he purred. “Or you’ll pay dearly for this.”

With that, Hawk Moth grasped the top of his cane and slid free a blade, wielding it in one hand while holding the cane in the other to parry Ladybug’s attacks.

Ladybug spun her yo-yo in a circle and allowed herself a smile. This was it. This was the end of Hawk Moth’s schemes.

The two charged at each other while Quantum Menace ran his gauntleted hand over his other hand, summoning a matching clawed gauntlet on that hand as well. Then he pushed forward both sets of claws into the air in front of him and growled, low and guttural, as he struggled to pull open a portal to another world.

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Hawk Moth battled. His blade looked more dangerous than her yo-yo, but she could see he wasn’t as used to fighting as she was, giving her the edge. Slowly she drove him back towards Quantum Menace. Stopping Hawk Moth was the ultimate goal, but allowing an akuma to rip a hole in reality to get to another universe seemed like the worst idea ever.

Of course, Hawk Moth wasn’t an idiot and could see what she was doing. He might not have the skill to push her back, but he was definitely slowing her progress.

“Hurry up, you fool!” Hawk Moth shouted, sparing a quick glance over his shoulder.

“I’ve opened a breach into the inter-universal liminal space!” Quantum Menace exclaimed with glee. “Now to search for the proper universe with the proper Miraculous. No, not that one… no… no… not this one either… Wait, I’ve fou—”

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted as Ladybug managed to slip past Hawk Moth’s guard and shove him backwards into Quantum Menace, knocking the akuma down. Unfortunately, this gave Hawk Moth the chance to grab Ladybug and use his superior size and strength to force her towards the breach with an evil grin.

Ladybug struggled in his grip,managing to brace herself well enough to prevent him from pushing her all the way through, but she couldn’t stop him from shoving her face-first into the breach. As her head entered the hole between the universes, a pulsating panorama of multicolored lights and strange scenes of other times and worlds assaulted Ladybug’s consciousness. As each image slipped out of sight, it also slipped from her mind as if it was never meant to be there in the first place.

Fighting through the disorientation and the pain, Ladybug struggled against Hawk Moth, who pushed Ladybug further forward until the entire upper half of her was halfway through the tear, but at the cost of Hawk Moth also being partially pulled into it as well.

Ladybug heard the distant cry of Quantum Menace screaming at them to get out of the breach before they ruined everything. She would have gladly done so, but Hawk Moth seemed determined to not allow that. Peering up at the man trying his best to throw her into another universe, she saw saw hundreds of dark purple butterflies swarming around him as an inky blackness slowly spread over them filling them with the same star patterns as Quantum Menace.

Suddenly, the butterflies exploded outward away from Hawk Moth as if shot from cannons… then everything else exploded as Ladybug felt herself being torn apart…

The last thing she recalled before losing consciousness for what she was pretty sure would be the last time was that she wished she had confessed her love to Adrien instead of always chickening out…

Distantly through the blackness, Ladybug heard a voice. It sounded as if it was at the other end of a tunnel. It was an angry voice and somehow familiar although she wasn’t sure what she’d done to upset whomever the voice belonged to.

Blinking, Ladybug opened her eyes and although it took several seconds, her vision came back into focus from the cloudy incoherence that still fogged her mind.

Chat. She saw her partner, Chat Noir, standing over her… no, holding her and trying to pull her to her feet although her limp form was giving him trouble.

He looked angry, like he didn’t even recognize her.

“W-what is it, Chat?” she asked, wishing the ringing that had returned to her ears would go away again.

“What have you done with my Lady?” Chat demanded. His face was inches from her own and she could see the fury painted across his features.

She tried to push away from her partner. He wasn’t making any sense and she needed a second to get her bearings, but Chat refused to let go.

“Tell me,” he snarled. “Tell me or so help me I’ll… I’ll… I’ll make you tell me!”

“Chat, it’s me,” Ladybug insisted, taking his black-gloved hands into her… silver-gloved hands? 

What?

She blinked again, trying to grasp what had happened. Was she out of costume? Why didn’t Chat recognize her as Marinette then?

Chat’s face was twisted into a scowl, but slowly his eyes widened in surprise.

“Ladybug?” he asked tentatively as he gently steadied her and released his grip. “Is it really you?”

“Yeah, I mean… I think so,” she responded, looking down. She could see that she was dressed in some sort of formal suit. She had silver gloves and dress shoes, while the trousers and the tailed top coat were a pale lilac. Reaching up, she could feel she was still wearing a mask.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she looked at Chat and said, “I need a mirror, Chat.”

Her partner seemed too stunned to respond, so Ladybug looked around the room for any kind of reflective surface.

There! A puddle of water. Fearing what she would see, Ladybug stumbled over to the water. She was terrified that her consciousness had somehow been shoved into Hawk Moth’s body, but her fears were unfounded.

Looking into the puddle, she saw she was still herself, although now dressed similarly to how Hawk Moth had been. Along with the aforementioned formal wear, she sported a silver mask shaped like a butterfly covering most of her face. It was absurd, but she felt relieved she didn’t have that silly full helmet that Hawk Moth wore.

Gingerly, she reached up and touched her mask before a thought struck her.

“Tikki!” she called out, swiveling her head back and forth. If she was in Hawk Moth’s costume, it meant she had his Miraculous, and that meant…

“Tikki!” she shouted again, scrambling through the debris. She saw no sign of Hawk Moth, Tikki, or Quantum Menace.

Chat shook himself and leapt into action as well, looking for Tikki and their enemies in the annihilated conference room.

A small speck caught her attention. Bending down, she picked up a single black earring. It was hers. She had found one half of her Miraculous.

But where was the other half?

“What is it, Ladyb—” Chat began before correcting himself. “I mean, my Lady?”

Her stomach dropped as if she’d been thrown from a great height. She wasn’t Ladybug, at least for now. Silently vowing to get Tikki back, she turned to Chat and held out her hand.

“It’s half of my Miraculous,” she replied.

He hissed in surprise. “It’s broken?”

She shook her head. “No,” she reassured him. “It’s one of my earrings. Paired set.” There was only one path forward, she realized. “We’ve got to get this to Master Fu. If anyone will know what to do, it’s him.”

Chat nodded and began to say something, but they were interrupted by a tentative, “Hello?”

It was a woman’s voice, so it wasn’t Hawk Moth or Quantum Menace.

A distinguished, older woman wearing glasses poked her head through the hole in the wall that Chat had created earlier with his Cataclysm. Ladybug recognized her. She was one of the scientists from earlier.

“Is Edward gone?” the newcomer asked.

“Who?” Chat replied.

Approaching cautiously due to the wreckage, the woman answered, “Edward Lassiter. The man responsible for all this. Called himself ‘Quantum Menace,’” she finished sourly.

“Hawk Moth’s the one responsible,” Ladybug answered automatically. It wasn’t the akumatized victim’s fault that they were possessed.

“And you are?” the scientist asked. Now that she was closer, Ladybug was able to get a better look at her. She’d guess the woman was in her mid-60’s. She was very distinguished-looking with silver hair and a sharp, inquisitive expression.

“I’m Ladybug,” Marinette responded before pausing. “Er… I was Ladybug, I guess.”

“What happened?” the woman asked.

Chat stepped forward protectively. “We’ve got it handled,” he insisted.

The scientist scoffed. “Really?” she asked.

Ladybug put a reassuring hand on Chat’s shoulder. She definitely appreciated the support. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to help, Dr…” she trailed off, hoping the woman would formally introduce herself.

“Brisbane,” she said, briskly. “Dr. Annette Brisbane. I worked at Oxford with Dr. Lassiter—Edward, that is—and if anyone can piece together what happened here, it’s me.”

“You knew the victim?” Ladybug asked.

“Yes,” Dr. Brisbane replied. “For many years. He’s quite brilliant, although unorthodox. I was here when he was booed out of the building this morning, fat lot of good it did this bunch, eh?”

Ladybug nodded. After two years, she wasn’t sure why it was so hard for people in Paris to get that humiliating people was a dumb thing to do.

“Well,” Dr. Brisbane continued. “They didn’t understand Eddie’s theories, that’s for sure. I had other objections, of course.”

“Oh?” Chat asked. “And you think you can help?”

Dr. Brisbane nodded, looking around. “Yes. As I said, his theories have merit, but his methods are highly dangerous.” She paused and waved at the mess around them. “As you can see.”

“Okay,” Ladybug responded, and described the events as they unfolded… at least what she could recall from having her head shoved into a hole in reality.

“Hm…” Dr. Brisbane idly hummed as she put a hand to her chin in thought. “Yes, this fits with his multiversal theory…”

Ladybug breathed out a sigh, making a snap decision. “Can you come with us, Dr. Brisbane?”

Chat looked at her, puzzled. “Where?” he asked.

“Yes,” Dr. Brisbane agreed with him. “Where do you want me to go?”

Ladybug paused. She was at the point of no return if she made this offer, and she knew Chat wouldn’t like it.

“I want to take you to the Guardian,” she answered, hearing Chat’s surprised gasp.

“And that is whom precisely?” Dr. Brisbane asked, unimpressed.

“We’ll explain on the way,” Ladybug answered, reaching for her yo-yo… which of course wasn’t there. She rubbed at her temple, feeling a headache coming on. “I was going to ask if we could blindfold you to keep the Guardian’s location secret, but I don’t have my yo-yo and I have no idea how Hawk Moth gets around.”

She looked around, spotting Hawk Moth’s cane. Picking it up, she quickly determined that even if it did allow for some sort of enhanced travel, she had no idea how to use it without discussing it with Hawk Moth’s kwami, and she couldn’t drop her disguise.

That brought something else to mind.

“Chat,” she said. “Your Miraculous timer isn’t beeping, and you’ve not transformed back.”

Her partner was startled by the statement, saying, “You’re right! That’s weird.”

Dr. Brisbane interrupted. “I’m not sure I’m comfortable being blindfolded anyway.”

“Fair,” Ladybug replied. “Um… Do you have a car? I could use a ride.”

She’d have to apologize to Master Fu, but these were desperate times. Getting Tikki back was vital.

Dr. Brisbane did in fact have a car, and soon enough they were driving towards the Guardian’s residence. 

Marinette didn’t allow herself to question her decision although she could feel Chat’s palpable discomfort as he sat beside her while the two of them ducked down in the back of Dr. Brisbane’s car. Getting Tikki back was too important not to risk whatever it took.

She was pulled from her thoughts as they arrived at Master Fu’s. She steeled herself and led her companions into the shop.

“A… massage parlor?” Dr. Brisbane asked, her doubt plain to see.

Ladybug shrugged and pushed open the door. Chat and Dr. Brisbane went through and Ladybug shut the door behind her as she followed to find Master Fu looking at them, confused.

Seeing her wise mentor looking dumbfounded shook her almost as much as losing Tikki. She really needed Fu to have the answers that would solve this disaster.

Chat glanced at her and sensing she needed a moment, spoke up. “We’re having a bit of a crisis, Guardian,” he said, and Ladybug wondered when he had developed a gift for understatement.

“I can see that,” Fu replied, eyeing Dr. Brisbane, who gave a short, quick chuckle.

“Pardon the intrusion,” she said. “Your… students?” she asked hesitantly and Fu nodded, so she continued, “Yes, well your students got involved with one of my colleagues who has been influenced by this Hawk Moth person, and I offered my assistance since it appears Dr. Lassiter managed to create a functioning multiversal wormhole.”

Fu blinked, looking to the two Miraculous holders who could only shrug.

“Does Hawk Moth have the Ladybug Miraculous?” Fu asked.

“Oh!” Ladybug exclaimed. “Um… maybe?” she said hesitantly as she held out her hand, opening it to show Master Fu the single earring.

Fu’s eyes widened. “This shouldn’t be possible,” he whispered.

“What?” Ladybug asked, feeling nauseous. “What’s wrong?”

“The earrings,” Fu said quietly. “They should not be able to be separated.”

He looked up and smiled reassuringly. “At least Hawk Moth doesn’t have the full Ladybug Miraculous.”

That was cold comfort to Marinette. “I need to sit down,” she muttered. Chat helped her to a chair and stood there holding her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

“Please tell me everything that happened,” Master Fu implored.

So the three visitors did just that. Ladybug and Chat supplied details of the battle while Dr. Brisbane explained as much as they could understand of the theories behind what Quantum Menace had done.

Fu eyed Dr. Brisbane with a look of respect. “Most scientists don’t readily accept magic such as you encountered today.”

Dr. Brisbane shrugged. “Too much evidence to dismiss magic. I may not understand it, but that doesn’t mean it’s all smoke machines and pyrotechnics.”

Fu smiled. “Thank you for your assistance, Dr. Brisbane,” he said kindly.

She returned the smile and said, “Please call me Annette. No need for formalities.”

The Guardian chuckled. He looked at Marinette and said, “I’d like a few minutes alone with you to introduce you to your new kwami.”

Marinette felt her stomach clinch. She wanted Tikki. Nothing against the butterfly kwami, but she was gripped by fear for her missing friend. Still, she gave a curt nod and stood, following Master Fu to the next room, a more private chamber with a soft futon on the floor and a flowering orchid in the window. With a sigh, she released her transformation.

“Marinette,” Fu began. “Meet Nooroo.”

The small, light-purple butterfly kwami smiled kindly. Her eyes reminded Marinette of Tikki’s.

“I’m sorry to meet you under these circumstances,” Nooroo said. “We’ll get Tikki back, though. You can count on it.”

“Thanks,” Marinette replied nodding firmly. Nooroo was right. She had to stay positive. “We’ll definitely save her.”

Fu and Nooroo quickly went over her new Miraculous powers, which included the good version of akumatization, that Nooroo described as instead inspiring those worthy with “tenshi,” light butterflies who granted superpowers based on the strengths and abilities of the recipient.

It was a lot to take in, but Marinette felt up to the job. She had one hesitation, though. “Do I have to call myself Hawk Moth?” she asked.

Fu chuckled. “No, of course not. Perhaps… Papillon?”

Marinette smiled. “Papillon. I like that better.”

She looked to her new companion and said, “Nooroo, wings up!”

Nooroo transformed her, and she and Master Fu rejoined Chat and Annette in the main room, where Annette was pacing and tossing out theories about Quantum Menace’s game plan and Chat was gamely keeping up. With a solemn tone, Master Fu introduced them to Papillon, the new bearer of the Butterfly miraculous for the time being. 

“So what should we do first?” Chat asked, eager to get on with finding the lost Miraculous. He didn’t look happy, but Papillon decided to wait and ask him what was the matter when they had more privacy.

The Guardian paused before saying, “Papillon, would you put on the earring? If you retain your bond with the Miraculous Ladybug, I believe you might feel a pull to the other earring if you do.”

Papillon nodded and snapped the earring into place. Sure enough, she instantly felt what she could only describe as a mental tug coming from the east. She pointed and said, “There.”

As she said it, there was the sound of an explosion in the distance. 

Fu hurriedly turned on the television to see some sort of akuma disturbance being reported. It was, to Papillon’s dismay, directly East of their current position. Wherever Tikki was happened to be in the same direction as the akuma attack, which could only mean one thing.

“Okay,” Papillon said to Chat. “I know this is strange, but we’ve got a job to do!”

Chat nodded and went to the window before he was stopped by Master Fu.

“One second, Chat Noir,” he said and turned to Papillon. “Every Miraculous grants its bearer the ability to traverse great distances quickly,” he explained. “Concentrate, Papillon, on the gem in your cane.”

She closed her eyes and did as instructed, immediately feeling something ticklish on her back. She opened her eyes and looked in the mirror on the wall.

Wings! She had wings!

Two butterfly wings connected to her back, although her tailcoat was undamaged. They felt like an extension of her own body, but as she looked at them, she noticed that the translucent, purple wings had a faint glow.

Puzzled, she looked to the Guardian.

“Your wings are composed of spiritual energy,” he explained. “That way they can’t be damaged by any physical or mystical force.”

Nodding again to Master Fu, she and Chat left the Guardian and Dr. Brisbane to consult with each other.

On the way, Papillon mostly had to concentrate on staying aloft. She hoped it would it would become easier as she practiced, but she had to admit the sensation of flying was amazing.

Still, there was something she needed to address. 

“Chat,” she said. “What’s bothering you?”

Chat Noir looked up as he sprinted along the rooftop before vaulting to the next roof. As he landed and resumed running, he said, “Now that you’re Papillon, I’m going to have to think of all new puns.”

Papillon snorted. Of course that was a concern for her partner!

“And I’m worried for Tikki,” he continued. “I don’t want Hawk Moth having her any more than you do.”

That thought was sobering. She sighed and said, “I know. We’ll get her back, though.”

The sounds of nearby battle interrupted the tender moment.

“Ready, Chat?” she asked, steeling herself.

“You know it, my Lady,” Chat smirked.

Papillon flew around the corner into a park with Chat right behind to see what looked like a dozen or so winged robot bugs, which were about a meter long each, swarming around a strange blonde girl.

The sight of the girl caused Papillon to pull to a stop, hovering steadily above the ground. Her hair was a mass of golden blonde curls, intricately woven through a sparkling tiara, and she had bright blue eyes that flashed with eagerness. Her wide grin was just as eager. She was dressed in a flowing red blouse with black spots on its billowy sleeves and a short, full skirt that matched the sleeves. The ensemble was completed by a silky bow tied around her neck, which was also red with black spots, and a black Carnivale mask accented by red sequins around the edges. In her hands was a short, black rod with a red heart-shaped gem at the top, similar to Papillon’s cane.

Papillon’s immediate thought was just who in the heck had gotten a hold of her Miraculous and how had she transformed into _that_ with only one earring?

She didn’t have time to contemplate, though.

The girl struck a strange pose and declared, “Enemies of justice, beware!” She then raised her staff, holding it in both hands until the gem was at eye level. “Princess Gem Maiden Power… Blast!!!” she shouted and the red gem flashed brightly, sending out a wave of glowing energy to obliterate the robot bug things. 

“What?” Chat said, bewildered.

Papillon floated to the ground beside him, saying, “I have no idea what is happening here.”

The girl struck another pose, the curls on her head bouncing so hard Papillon feared her tiara might fly off, as she declared, “Take that, evildoers! As long as Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug is here, you’re outmatched!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome to my contribution to Kwami Swap Week 2019!
> 
> You might have noticed the obvious. I really adored the Spider-Verse film (Best Superhero Film Ever!) and decided why not riff on it for this event? And if I'm going to do it, I'm going to try to have fun with the concept and make it a bit weird. You'll see that as I add characters and relationships, and boy do I end up with a lot of characters and relationships.
> 
> So buckle up, my friends, and get ready for the ride!
> 
> As to this chapter specifically, I really enjoyed writing it, and I think it came out well. I think my only disappointment with this chapter is I didn't work in a joke about Adrien declaring Marinette's wings to be beautiful. It seems like something he would do. It's a regret I'll be forced to live with, I suppose.
> 
> As always a big thanks to asimaiyat for beta reading/editing. Without their help, my work wouldn't be worth posting.


	2. Meet Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug!

_Hi, everybody! It’s my pleasure to introduce myself!_

_My name is Princess Chloé and for the past two years, I’ve fought for truth, justice, and love as Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug!_

_I’m the latest in a long line of princesses from the mystical city of Lutetia, each holding the title Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug! When my mother, Princess Audra, passed away five years ago, I was told by the Guardian Priestess I wasn’t ready to be Lovely Ladybug because I had a lot to learn about friendship and love. To be honest, she was right. I was a real brat most of the time!_

_So the honor of being Lovely Ladybug secretly passed to my handmaiden, Marisol, who had the tough job of caring for me while protecting her identity and fighting the forces of evil! But Marisol was up to the job and saved the kingdom time after time from the evil clutches of the dark fairy, the Moth Queen!_

_Over the years, Marisol helped me become a better person and when it was time for me to embrace my destiny, she entrusted me with the Ruby Princess Gem and retired to a happy life with her true love, Prince Adrien, who had secretly been the dashing hero, Masked Cat, all along!_

_Now, I honor Marisol as I protect Lutetia and the neighboring cities alongside my friends on the Princess Council and a mysterious, new Masked Cat. We won’t fail because the only thing standing between my kingdom and the Moth Queen are me and my friends!_

_So watch out, evildoers! You’ve been warned!_

_There’s only one Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug, and I’m here to fight for love!_

* * *

With a satisfied nod, the mysterious blonde calling herself “Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug”—assuming Papillon had heard correctly and wasn’t just spiraling deeper into a bout of insanity which would at least explain the day she’d had—dropped her pose and hooked her rod to her belt.

The new Ladybug looked at the surrounding park, seemingly fascinated by the news helicopter hovering high above.

“What a strange place!” she declared. There wasn’t any malice behind her words. In fact, her statement sounded downright cheerful. 

Chat nudged Papillon’s shoulder, startling her. She could dwell on how bizarre this situation was later. 

“Right,” she whispered, acknowledging Chat. “We’ve found Tikki. That’s the important part.”

Papillon approached accompanied by Chat, hoping she didn’t spook the new girl. Truthfully, she was thrilled to find Tikki so quickly, although perhaps a little miffed that the kwami had bonded with a new bearer in less than a couple of hours.

“Hi,” Papillon began with a friendly smile and wave. The last thing she wanted was the cliché battle between heroes due to a misunderstanding.

The new girl turned to face her and Chat, tilting her head in innocent confusion, like a puppy. Papillon found her disturbingly adorable. It was weirding her out a bit, but she wasn’t sure why. Usually she was a really positive person, but maybe she was jealous that this new girl had Tikki, or maybe her words and actions just seemed a bit too affected, but something about her was plain bothering Papillon.

Those thoughts flew out of Papillon’s head when the blonde girl clasped her hands to her cheeks and dramatically gasped, “Oh my goodness!” 

With that, the new Ladybug threw herself at Chat Noir, hugging him around the neck while giggling. “You’re here, too!” she said, sounding relieved.

“Er… Yes, we are?” Chat said as Papillon tried to wrap her head around the scene in front of her.

“Did you get pulled through a magical gateway, too, Prince Adrien?” Ladybug asked.

Chat’s only response was a panicked squeak.

Wait, thought Papillon, a magical gateway? Could she have come through the portal Quantum Menace was trying to open?

That was when all the words the girl had said hit her like a load of bricks.

“Prince… Adrien?” Papillon asked, voice two octaves higher than usual.

For a second time, Chat’s only response was a panicked squeak.

So many things suddenly made so much more sense to Papillon. Her head was spinning, but the newcomer didn’t give her enough time to process anything before releasing Chat and turning to Papillon curiously.

“Oh my gosh, is that you, Princess Marisol?” she asked excitedly, taking Papillon’s hands and smiling brightly. “Did you find another Princess Gem? Is that why you have a new costume? It’s so dapper! You look so much like Masked Cat—”

The excitable girl dropped Papillon’s hands and gasped dramatically again, but this time there was a distinct note of panic in her gesture. With suddenly tear-filled eyes, she took Chat by the shoulders and exclaimed, “If you’re Masked Cat again, where is _my_ Masked Cat? Please tell me she’s not hurt!”

If asked, she wouldn’t be able to explain why, but Papillon found herself feeling immediately protective of the girl who so obviously worried for her Chat Noir, or Masked Cat as the case might be.

“Ladybug,” she said, gently putting a comforting hand on the girl’s arm. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” Chat spoke up. He sounded nervous and Papillon had a good idea why. He cleared his throat and continued, trying to sound as positive as possible, “I think you’ve traveled to another world that’s similar to yours, but there’s no reason to think your kitty cat is in any danger. Except for missing you, of course.”

Ladybug wiped a tear from her eye that had begun to roll down her mask. “Oh thank goodness,” she said shakily. “I don’t know what I’d do if…” she paused and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. You think I’ve traveled to another world? That _would_ explain why things are so odd here.”

People were starting to come back to the park after the attack to see what exactly had happened, and Papillon could see Nadja Chamack and her film crew in the distance jogging towards them. She cleared her throat and said, “Let’s get somewhere a bit more private and we’ll talk about everything.” She emphasized the last word with a pointed look at her partner. 

He had the decency to look embarrassed as he gulped and tugged at his collar.

“Okay,” Ladybug said, getting a grip on herself. She looked around and asked, “Do you have unicorns we can ride?”

Chat’s eyes were impossibly wide as he asked, “You have unicorns on your world?” He sounded completely awestruck and Papillon couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

“You don’t?” Ladybug asked, shocked at the very notion.

“No,” Papillon replied, drily. “I can fly and Chat can run at great speeds while jumping from roof to roof. Do you not have a way to get around quickly?”

“Oh,” Ladybug blinked and nodded. “I do, but Marisol always says it’s inconsiderate to show off. But if we need to hurry…” She paused in thought, then continued, “I think I can do this here, but this world is so odd the power might not work.”

Before either Papillon or Chat could respond to that, Ladybug drew her rod and called out, “Magic Ally Summons: Royal Pegasus, Arcus Lucidum!”

A flash of rainbow light erupted from the ground, shooting into the sky, before quickly fading. Where the light had been now stood a winged horse—or, as Papillon had learned in her literature classes, a pegasus—with bright blue eyes, an ivory coat and a rainbow-colored mane.

A speechless Papillon and Chat stared as the pegasus looked around and upon seeing Ladybug bowed to her.

And then the pegasus spoke, because of course he did. 

“Princess,” he greeted Ladybug with a deep, sonorous voice. “We seem far from home, but I am as always at your service.”

Ladybug giggled and hugged the pegasus around the neck. Not letting go, she said, “Thanks, Arcus! I know I can always count on you.” 

Arcus kneeled and Ladybug quickly swung into the saddle, looked to Papillon and Chat and said, “Ready when you are!”

“Um… Mind if I ride with you?” Chat asked with a hopeful grin.

“Arcus?” Ladybug politely asked the pegasus while ruffling his mane.

Arcus snorted and said, “As you wish.”

Papillon struggled to hide her smirk. “Let’s go, you three!” 

And with that call to action, she summoned her wings and soared into the air with Arcus beside her. She couldn’t contain her laugh seeing how much pure joy Chat and this other Ladybug were having riding a rainbow-themed pegasus over the streets of Paris.

Flying low to avoid as many staring civilians and eager reporters as possible, they weaved through alleys and streets until they returned to Master Fu’s place. Fortunately, the alley beside his building was empty and the shadows were deep enough to cover them.

Well, the shadows covered them until Ladybug dismissed Arcus in another blast of rainbow pyrotechnics, which made Papillon cringe.

Deciding they shouldn’t hang around downtown Paris in their costumes after a rainbow column of light shot into the sky, Papillon hurried her companions along. The trio quickly made their way inside without creating any further commotion, easing Papillon’s nerves. Thankfully, people must have been glued to their televisions for updates on the latest akuma attack.

Papillon breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted a note from Master Fu resting against the incense burner. In his painterly handwriting, it read that Fu and Dr. Brisbane had returned to her laboratory to fetch some of her equipment. Papillon turned to tell her companions what Master Fu had written, but when she came face-to-face with Chat Noir, she froze.

Seeing the struggle on her face, Chat frowned. “I’m guessing you want to talk, my Lady,” he offered quietly.

Ladybug looked at him in confusion and asked, “Is something wrong?”

“She didn’t know my true identity until a few minutes ago when you called me by my name,” Chat… No… Adrien offered with a small, kind smile to the girl.

“Oh,” Ladybug said, afraid she’d done something terribly wrong. “I’m so sorry! I thought you were Prince Adrien and Princess Marisol when I said that!”

“It’s okay,” Papillon insisted. It was the truth. There had been no harm intended. Mostly, she was nervous now that she knew Chat was the boy she’d already fallen in love with and worried that finding out Ladybug/Papillon was actually just plain Marinette might disappoint him.

“Well,” Chat sighed. “Just to get it out of the way… Claws in, Plagg.”

The transformation released and Adrien Agreste stood in front of the two girls with his kwami hovering by his shoulder, looking unimpressed.

“You _do_ look just like Prince Adrien!” Ladybug exclaimed with a delighted squeal.

“Oh, joy,” Plagg drawled. “She’s certainly excitable.”

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Papillon said, “Fair’s fair… Wings down, Nooroo.”

Marinette closed her eyes as the transformation released. She couldn’t bear to face Adrien’s reaction. Suddenly, she felt herself being tightly embraced.

Surprised, she opened her eyes to find herself being hugged tightly by Ladybug.

“And you’re exactly the image of Princess Marisol!” the girl giggled. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

Marinette made a mental note to keep in mind this Ladybug was definitely a hugger. Still, it wasn’t too bad. The girl’s cheerful energy had a way of feeling reassuring and not forced.

Risking a look at Adrien, Marinette found he seemed as stunned as she was. At least Plagg and Nooroo seemed okay with it, as they greeted each other warmly.

“M-Marinette?” he hesitantly asked.

Releasing Marinette and grinning broadly, Ladybug said, “That’s such a pretty name! I’m going to suggest to Marisol she should consider that name if she has a daughter.”

Marinette blushed fiercely. The idea that any version of her and any version of Adrien might have children made her insides feel like jelly.

“Disappointed?” she ventured to Adrien.

“No!” Adrien insisted, also blushing, just as the door opened. 

Whatever else he had to say would have to come later as an unimpressed Master Fu stood in the door with Dr. Brisbane in tow, who was holding a box of scientific objects Marinette had no chance of identifying.

The Guardian sighed. “I see you’ve decided to dispense with secret identities,” he said as he closed the door once again.

“That’s right!” Ladybug insisted as she stepped between the annoyed Guardian and the two embarrassed teenagers. “How can they be true allies in the fight against injustice if they keep secrets because they don’t fully trust each other?!”

Fu blinked at the interjection, and frankly Marinette was impressed by the girl’s passion, although by this point maybe she should expect her to be enthusiastic by default.

“Oh,” Dr. Brisbane interrupted, eyeing the girl curiously. “You’ve found the Ladybug Miraculous.”

“The what?” Ladybug asked.

“Your Princess Gem,” Adrien offered, and Ladybug smiled as he continued, “Master Fu, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug. 

Master Fu bowed and said in a formal tone, “My apologies for not introducing myself, Your Highness. I am Master Fu, Guardian of the Miraculous. While it is true that I once instructed Marinette and Adrien to keep their identities secret, it was because Nooroo had been lost to us. His powers granted Hawk Moth the ability to see into the minds of the victims he possessed, which made it far too dangerous for them to reveal their identities to anyone, including each other. Now that Nooroo is back with you, you’re correct, Ladybug.” He paused to offer a smile to Nooroo before continuing, “Papillon and Chat Noir building trust can only be a benefit to them both.”

Ladybug’s smile broadened and she curtsied. “Thank you for your kindness, Master Fu. I am honored to meet you.”

“I will be happy to discuss our current situation if you’ll just give Annette a moment?” Fu asked, and the Miraculous bearers agreed. Dr. Brisbane arranged her equipment on a low table, and after everyone had a moment to settle in, Fu spoke again. “Ladybug, would you mind telling us more about yourself?”

Ladybug sprung to her feet from where she had taken a seat beside Adrien and Marinette on the sofa.

“Of course,” she declared. “I’m so sorry! I’ve totally forgotten my manners!” 

With that, she once more drew her rod from her belt, held it high, and proclaimed, “In the name of love and justice… Release!”

Ruby light dappled with onyx spots flashed around the girl as she rose into the air floating, and Marinette had to avert her eyes as the light’s intensity grew to an unbearable brightness.

The light began to fade, and when she could safely look in Ladybug’s direction again, her eyes almost popped out of her head.

Literally the last person she would have ever expected to be Ladybug in _any_ universe stood in front of her.

Chloé Bourgeois was Ladybug. Well, to be more specific _a_ Chloé Bourgeois was Ladybug.

This Chloé was obviously younger than the one Marinette knew and loathed. If she had to guess, Marinette would say the girl was twelve at most and therefore at least six years her junior, and that helped remind her that this was a very different Chloé from a very different universe—a Chloé who was incredibly sweet and innocent, almost naive. Marinette supposed a good version of Chloé was _slightly_ less impossible than unicorns and pegasi, which this new Ladybug’s universe seemed to have in abundance. 

Even with these clear differences in mind, Marinette reasoned that her instinctive reaction to Chloé Bourgeois must have been why she felt so thrown off by the new Ladybug at first.

Undeterred by the baffled stares from Marinette and Adrien, Chloé stood in front of them, smiling. While the girl still had her sparkling tiara, her hair was no longer a pile of curls, but instead the long ponytail that Marinette was used to seeing on her world’s Chloé. She was dressed in a sensible red leather jacket that buttoned on the side and black leggings matching black riding gloves. Complementing the jacket were well-worn leather riding boots in the same shade of red. 

Marinette remarked to herself that her world’s Chloé wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something so outdoorsy. Her breath caught when Tikki—or as Marinette reminded herself, the other universe’s version of Tikki—landed on Chloé’s shoulder. 

Chloé held her right hand towards her audience in a victory sign, winked, and began her introduction.

“Hi! My name is Princess Chloé although you know me as Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug! 

“I come from the beautiful city of Lutetia, and I’m heir to the throne of the mystical kingdom of Arinell! It’s my job to defend the kingdom from the evil Moth Queen alongside my friends on the Princess Council! 

“I’m not quite sure where I am, but as long as I’m here, I’ll fight for love and justice! So watch out, evildoers! You’ve been warned!”

The enthusiastic princess finished with another dramatic pose, and Adrien leapt to his feet, clapping and grinning.

Marinette stood as well, but it was because her eyes had locked on Tikki, who was returning her stare.

“You seem familiar,” Tikki said in that same lovely voice as her Tikki, and Marinette’s throat tightened. 

“She’s like Marisol, Tikki,” Chloé explained, smiling.

“Yes, but different,” Tikki agreed. “I’m really pleased to meet you, though!”

“Thanks,” Marinette replied, trying to hold her smile. Seeing this other version of Tikki brought home the fact that they were no closer to finding her own missing friend. “Um… if you’ll excuse me for a second?” she said and didn’t bother to see if anyone objected as she stepped into the back room. She just needed a minute or two in private. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

The door opened behind her, but Marinette didn’t turn. She didn’t want Master Fu to see her tears.

“Master Fu, I’m—” she began before Adrien interrupted.

“It’s me, Marinette,” he said softly.

This was an even bigger disaster than if the Guardian had come after her. She couldn’t embarrass herself in front of Adrien, not after she’d been foolish enough to lose her Tikki, which was humiliating enough.

She started when his strong arms wrapped around her, but she relaxed into him almost instantly.

For several moments, they stayed like that before Adrien gently turned her and wiped her tears.

“It’s okay, Princess,” he whispered. “Everyone understands, even—or should I say _especially_ —Princess Chloé. She was the one who insisted I check on you.”

Marinette looked up into his beautiful green eyes and replied, “She did? And won’t it get confusing if you call me ‘princess’ when we have a real live princess in the next room?”

Adrien chuckled. “Yeah, well she didn’t give me much choice since she was the one who shoved me towards the door saying she wouldn’t let me screw up my shot at true love… and you’ll always be my princess.”

“Love?” Marinette whispered, tightening her grip on his shirt.

Adrien nodded, leaning closer. “For so long.”

Marinette’s eyes fluttered as she met him halfway. 

The kiss was kind and tender and perfect in every way. Feeling dizzy, Marinette broke the kiss and leaned into Adrien’s chest. He felt so warm and solid.

“I’m so glad it was you,” Adrien whispered, stroking her hair. “I’ve always thought you were a really special person. At school I always see you doing your best to help other people, even when you get nervous. And the courage and passion you show as Ladybug… I don’t know how I couldn’t have fallen for you.”

Marinette’s heart raced. “I was so worried you’d be disappointed that Ladybug turned out to be just that stuttering girl from your class.”

He chuckled softly in response. “And I was worried you wouldn’t return my feelings because you barely ever talk to me in school.”

“I just didn’t know how to tell you the things I felt,” she admitted.

He tilted her head up and brushed their lips together again before saying, “We should get back.” 

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak coherently, and they returned hand-in-hand, greeted by two smiling adults and one smug princess.

“See?” Princess Chloé declared. “Sometimes all True Love needs is a small push!”

Adrien laughed. “Small? You practically threw me into the room.”

Chloé stamped her foot and puffed her cheeks out, pouting. “You were hesitating!”

“I was,” Adrien agreed. “I was nervous, and I hesitated. Thank you, Princess Chloé, for giving me the push I needed.”

 

“I hate to interrupt,” Master Fu said. “But unless the two of you want to reveal your identities to the entire world, which I highly recommend against, you should probably put in an appearance at school.”

“Even with the akumas?” Marinette asked.

“The what?” Princess Chloé asked.

“You know,” Adrien offered. “The robot bugs you blasted.”

“Oh,” Princess Chloé replied. “Moth Queen’s drones?”

Everyone stopped and stared at the princess.

“You’ve encountered them before?” Master Fu asked.

“Lots of times,” Princess Chloé replied. “They’re creations of the Moth Queen. I mentioned her, remember?” 

Everyone nodded.

Marinette had a sinking feeling. “So we’re facing an invasion from another universe.”

Princess Chloé winced. “I didn’t mean to bring them here.” 

She looked ready to cry, so Adrien hugged her, saying, “You didn’t bring them here. A villain from our world brought both you and them here. It isn’t your fault.”

“It doesn’t matter. I want to help,” Princess Chloé offered, straightening. “I’ll fight beside you for as long as it takes! These miscreants can’t stand against our combined love!”

“That’s the spirit!” Adrien grinned.

“There’s always the possibility,” Dr. Brisbane added,“that those drones were pulled through with you instead of being sent here by this Moth Queen purposefully.”

Adrien nodded and said, “See, Princess? It might not even be an invasion at all, and like you said as long as love’s on our side, we can’t lose!” Then he turned to Marinette. “Speaking of love, how do you want to handle school and… um… us?”

“Oh,” Marinette said, surprised. “I guess we should just tell everyone unless you think we shouldn’t? Of course, Chloé’s going to flip out—Not you, Princess, _our_ Chloé,” she clarified for their visitor.

“Are you and she engaged like Prince Adrien and I were?” the princess asked Adrien, looking surprised. 

Marinette blinked. Had Princess Chloé been in love with her Adrien the same as Chloé Bourgeois was? Although that would be beyond weird with the age difference.

“Not that it matters,” Princess Chloé continued, although Marinette could sense she was nervous now. “That arrangement was for political reasons and we were both glad when we could end it.”

“Well,” Marinette replied. “Our Chloé is definitely in love with Adrien, but she’ll get over it eventually. True love and all, right?” 

The princess was comforted by the words, but Adrien seemed as if he was about to say something before hesitating and thinking better of it, appearing troubled. Marinette would have to ask him later what was the matter. For now, she wanted to enjoy being open and honest with Adrien. She’d worry about Chloé Bourgeois later.

The Guardian cleared his throat, snapping everyone back to attention. Marinette and Adrien made quick goodbyes and a sincere reassurance to the princess they would return as soon as possible before they were off heading towards the school.

It was a short walk, but Marinette savored every moment alone with Adrien as they held hands and shyly smiled at each other.

Approaching the courtyard in front of the school, they saw small gatherings of students chatting away, no doubt discussing the latest attacks. Marinette idly wondered how people would react when they discovered it was a potential invasion from another universe. Hopefully, Dr. Brisbane had been right earlier about the possibility that group of drones had been pulled through accidentally and not sent on purpose.

The first to spot the pair walking towards school hand-in-hand were Alya and Nino, who both looked thrilled. Unfortunately, the third person to see them was Sabrina, and she immediately went wide-eyed, gesturing wildly as she spoke to Chloé, who had her back to them as they approached.

Chloé turned and her disbelieving look turned into a furious sneer. It was at that point that the majority of students remembered they had pressing business elsewhere and beat a hasty retreat into the school.

The only four students who remained were her two best friends and her two nemeses, although Sabrina had the good sense to hang far back so as not to be caught in the explosion of rage Chloé was no doubt about to unleash. Alya and Nino stepped in to intercept the rich brat, forever sealing eternal love in Marinette’s heart for both of them.

She tightened her grip on Adrien’s hand as they neared the now arguing trio. Sabrina decided that she too must have some homework to complete because she quickly fled the scene as well, returning to the building.

Alya and Nino kept shifting side to side, blocking Chloé from coming at them, and Marinette quietly asked Adrien, “Should we just go inside?” She hoped that maybe Adrien would want to avoid the argument, too.

“No,” he said, firmly. “We need to get this over with. She’ll understand. I know she will.”

Marinette was dubious to say the least, but Chloé was supposedly Adrien’s closest childhood friend, which Marinette believed was only because he wasn’t allowed other friends then. If only he had grown up with other friends, then things would be much different between Adrien and Chloé. She sincerely believed that. He was too sweet to tolerate a harpy like her without some sort of Stockholm Syndrome involved.

“Dupain-Cheng!” Chloé screeched as Marinette and her new boyfriend. “How dare y—”

Her voice cut off mid-sentence as she stared past Marinette and Adrien, squinting as if to get a better look at something in the distance.

That was when it occurred Marinette that what had been a beautiful, sunny day had suddenly become dark and overcast. She turned, following Chloé’s gaze into the sky.

“Damn,” Adrien said, echoing Marinette’s sentiments. 

The entire sky was filled with hundreds of drones, blacking out the sun.

“Get inside the school!” Marinette was already shouting before she even turned her head.

All five teens turned to run, but it was already too late. The drones descended as one, rapidly spiralling around them in a circle, cutting off any escape route. The circling swarm swirled, tightening until only a few meters of space remained between the drones and the teens.

“What are these things?!” Alya yelled over the deafening buzz.

Before Marinette could respond, an unholy keening erupted from the drone swarm.

“ _Give us the other half! Our Queen demands it!_ ” they screeched with one voice.

No, thought Marinette, instinctively reaching up to her ear where the lone earring was pinned. They know!

The keening was cut off abruptly as a blast of rainbow light cut through the swarm, slamming into the ground beside the group, causing the drones to retreat about ten meters although they were still circling, buzzing with menace.

The light faded, revealing Ladybug astride Arcus. She smiled at the five of them, and as she dismounted she shouted, “Take heart! Magical Princess Lovely Ladybug is here to help!”

If anything, the keening intensified now that their traditional foe had taken the field, and the drones began quickly tightening their circle, intent on attacking without mercy.

Ladybug dropped to her knees, and slammed the base of her rod to the ground, gem pointed at the sky, calling out, “Princess Gem Ritual: Aegis Barrier!”

Pink light erupted from the heart-shaped ruby gem, washing over her and the others. As the warm light touched the drone swarm, the bugs were pushed back. The barrier stopped expanding twenty-five meters from Ladybug’s staff. Happily, the shield partially muted the noise from the drones, too.

The drones began hurling themselves into the magic barrier trying to break it, but it held fast.

“That should buy us a minute or two,” Ladybug said, cheerfully, but Marinette could see the strain of holding the barrier on her face.

Marinette exchanged a glance with Adrien and knew he could see Ladybug’s predicament, too.

Princess Chloé’s words from earlier about trust came back to Marinette. She looked at Chloé, Nino, and Alya—fear painting their features—and made her decision. She trusted Alya and Nino fully. Chloé… not so much, but desperate times and all.

With a curt nod to Adrien, Marinette called out, “Nooroo… Wings up!”

She heard Adrien making his declaration to Plagg at the same time.

The other three looked stunned.

“If we weren’t about to die, I’d have so many questions for you!” Alya snapped, looking cross.

“You sure this is the time, Alya?” Nino asked, eyeing the drones outside the magic field.

Papillon smirked. “I’ll answer all your questions once we’re safe,” she promised.

Alya seemed to accept that, but Chloé wasn’t so sure as the drones began slamming into the barrier trying to weaken it.

“How are we going to get out of this?” she asked, clutching at Chat Noir. “There’s too many of them!”

Chloé had a point, Papillon admitted to herself. She needed a plan. She was used to having a plan in an instant. It was kind of her thing. Problem was, she was also used to having her Ladybug powers instead of her Papillon powers… Wait, she had Papillon’s powers!

She chalked up not remembering that to the stress of the day and the hateful cacophony created by the drones as they screeched and threw themselves into the barrier.

Wait… noise… 

“Nino,” she said, making sure to sound confident. “How do you feel about being a superhero?”

The boy in question blinked. “Really?” he asked.

“Really,” Papillon reassured him.

“Well, if it helps get us out of this and stops that terrible noise, I’m in,” Nino smiled.

“Seriously, Marinette?” Alya grumped. “Best friends don’t get dibs on being a superhero?”

“Nino’s talent will help us out of this mess,” Papillon reassured, and Alya rolled her eyes.

“I’m up next time, got it?” she smirked.

Papillon returned the smirk before turning to the princess. “Ladybug, can you blast these bugs like you did in the park earlier?”

Ladybug nodded stiffly, and Papillon worried the strain of holding the barrier was too much for her.

“I-I’ll need to drop the shield, but yes, I can destroy any drone that’s in range,” she said. “There are so many of them that I don’t think I can reach them all though, and I’ll need a couple of moments to recover. Can you cover me?”

Papillon put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and said, “I’ve got you, LB. Just keep the barrier up for another minute.

“Chat, you and Nino need to get Chloé and Alya to safety. I’m with Ladybug, got it?” she asked.

Shaking his head, Chat said, “It’s too risky, Papillon. I’ll cover—”

“No,” Papillon insisted. “Without my yo-yo, you’re much better equipped to get civilians to safety.”

Chat looked as if he wanted to argue, but he nodded.

Satisfied, Papillon looked at Nino. Her powers needed a focus. Her eye caught the obvious… Nino’s ever-present headphones.

They were perfect.

Recalling the instructions Fu and Nooroo had given her, Papillon tapped her cane on the ground. A glowing butterfly flew out of the gem, and Papillon instructed it, “Fly to Nino, little one!”

The butterfly did as instructed swooping straight into the headphones and a column of golden light enveloped the boy.

Time seemed to slow around them, and Papillon could feel the primal connection she now shared with Nino.

“Nino Lahiffe,” Papillon intoned. “Will you serve as my champion in this battle?”

“I will,” Nino responded solemnly. 

Papillon smiled and decided to take a note from the princess and embellish the ceremony a bit.

“Arise, Reverb, Master of Sound!” she shouted and Nino transformed. 

The light dissipated and Papillon got her first look at Nino. He was dressed in dark red tights from the neck down with white armor covering his torso and forearms matching his white boots and helmet. He also had a backpack with wires connecting it to both the helmet and the forearm bracers, which allowed him to fire sonic blasts.

“Man,” Nino said, his voice sounding auto-tuned as it came through the helmet. “This is the best day of my life!”

“Ready?” she asked everyone, who affirmed they were. “On your mark, Ladybug!”

Chat raised his staff and Reverb prepped his gauntlets, which gave off a menacing, high-pitched whine.

“Okay,” Ladybug said, voice faint which only increased Papillon’s concern for her. “Now!”

The field dropped and Ladybug stood on shaky legs, holding her staff high and shouting, “Secret Princess Gem Final Power: Ruby _Detonation_!”

The gem dimmed, turning as black as a moonless midnight before crimson bolts began firing out of the gem, each targeting a bug in a cacophony of explosions as Ladybug demolished countless drones.

Papillon took to the air, drew her blade, and turned to shout, “Go!”

The two heroes covered Alya and Chloé as they fled, and Papillon returned her attention to Ladybug, hovering above her protectively.

With a cry, the princess fell to her knees as the beams stopped. “I didn’t get all of them,” she muttered.

“It’s okay,” Papillon said, and she meant it. Where there had been hundreds of drones, now there were a few dozen. “You did a great job protecting us, so it’s my turn to protect you.”

After the moment’s reprieve, the drones flew in with renewed vigor. Papillon didn’t have time to check if the others made it to safety. She was barely able to keep the stupid insects at bay zipping back and forth as the robots charged the helpless Ladybug.

Papillon parried one after another away from Ladybug, but one finally decided to deal with her first and attacked from behind, snapping its pincers on Papillon’s shoulder, and she fell to the ground. 

Ladybug blasted the creature off her, and Papillon cried out in pain as it released her.

She heard Chat Noir cry a panicked, “Marinette!” and Papillon looked in his direction, surveying the scene. 

They hadn’t made it inside, but fortunately, Nino had Alya behind him against the wall of the building nearly to the door and was keeping the bugs at play as he fired blasts at the enemy. 

Chat hadn’t made it quite as far with Chloé, and at Papillon’s cry, Chat had instinctively stopped and now he and Chloé were surrounded by drones just a few tantalizing meters from the door.

Papillon and Ladybug fought back-to-back, one with her sword and the other with her rod, warding off the few bugs that hadn’t peeled off to attack the others, but Papillon felt completely helpless as several drones pinned Chat. 

Chloé, to her credit, shouted at the bugs while trying to pry one off Chat, but two of them picked her up, and she screamed in terror as she was lifted high into the air.

Adding to the desperate situation, one of the drones yanked Adrien’s ring off, instantly ending his transformation and leaving Adrien helpless against the remnants of the horde of drones.

“No!” cried Papillon. She glanced at Nino, but he was busy fending off drones himself. 

A woman’s high, regal voice spoke from the opposite direction of the school, “Recall your servant’s little butterfly, Princess, or they all die.”

Papillon turned towards the voice to find a tall woman standing just a few yards away. She was dressed in a dramatic gown, with a black bodice embellished with gold marbling and a full, shimmering gold overskirt with fine black stripes, her eyes hidden behind a feathered gold Carnivale mask in the shape of a skull. Beside her cringed the akuma, Quantum Menace, sporting some sort of heavy golden collar.

“I won’t ask twice,” the woman said with a cruel smile.

“Stop, Reverb,” Papillon shouted, making sure Reverb could hear her. Her champion did as instructed and the drones hovered in front of him and Alya instead of attacking, thankfully.

“The Moth Queen,” Ladybug murmured, affirming Papillon’s suspicions. The princess stood tall, and Marinette knew it was a struggle for the girl to remain on her feet at this point, but she held her head high as she called out to the Moth Queen, “We will never surrender to you, Moth Queen! As long as we can fight for love and justice, we’ll never give up!”

The drone carrying Adrien’s ring hovered by Moth Queen’s shoulder, and dropped the ring into her waiting hand. She examined it and slipped it into a pouch on her belt before responding, “If the next thing that happens is anything other than your companion recalling her butterfly, Lovely Ladybug, I’ll simply retrieve the earring I’m after from your corpses.”

Ladybug looked horrified. “Moth Queen!” she exclaimed. “That boy your drones have pinned is this world’s counterpart to Prince Adrien!”

The Moth Queen laughed, hateful and cold. “So very quaint, you silly girl! Do you truly believe I’d show a cheap copy of my traitorous son mercy? I wouldn’t even show Prince Adrien mercy if he stood in the way of my destiny!”

Papillon felt her insides chill. Her son? She pushed that from her mind. Moth Queen was serious. She was going to kill all of them if Papillon didn’t recall her tenshi.

“I release you from service, Reverb,” Papillon whispered and the butterfly flew from the friendship bracelet back to Papillon’s cane, leaving a shocked Nino standing beside Alya. The drones that had been attacking them flew quickly back to hover in front of Moth Queen, protecting her from any potential attack.

“Good,” Moth Queen purred. “Good. Now hand over the earring… and I’ll take Lovely Ladybug prisoner as well if you want to survive.”

“No,” Ladybug countered defiantly. “I’ll come with you, but spare my friends! You don’t need her Miraculous if you have my Princess Gem. Decree you’ll leave them and this world alone, and I’ll come willingly and not try to escape.”

“You can’t!” Papillon shouted. She couldn’t allow this innocent girl to sacrifice herself.

“An interesting offer from someone in no position to bargain,” the Moth Queen replied as if Papillon hadn’t objected or even spoken at all. “By my count you have one wounded princess, one princess ready to collapse from exhaustion, and four useless children.”

“You should count again!” came a shout from above. The voice sounded strangely familiar. Papillon turned, looking at the top of the school building to see a figure silhouetted by the sun. She thought the voice sounded feminine, but she couldn’t be certain at this distance and making out details against the sun was impossible.

“It’s Masked Cat!” Ladybug cried, and Papillon silently thought she might be right. 

The Moth Queen snarled, “Hold, intruder! Do you think you can stop me before I kill these pathetic fools?”

By way of response, the figure leapt down, propelling herself at unbelievable speed towards Adrien, and now Papillon could see it was a woman dressed as Chat Noir. With three lightning-quick swipes of her claws, she tore through the drones as she landed in a crouch. Then the new Chat Noir slowly stood and drew her staff from her belt and extended it, planting it on the ground casually as she smirked defiantly at the Moth Queen.

Now that Papillon wasn’t fighting the sun, she got a better look at the new girl and quickly understood why the voice sounded familiar as she stared at her own reflection—if said reflection was cosplaying as Chat Noir. The only difference in the costume was that her Chat had a bell at his neck while this Chat had a loosely-tied bandana. Other than that, it was as if Adrien had loaned her his Miraculous.

“That’s not Masked Cat,” Ladybug whispered, confused.

Papillon didn’t respond, trying to wrap her mind around seeing her double standing in front of her.

Moth Queen snarled and shouted to the drones carrying Chloé, “Bring the girl. She’ll make a fine hostage.” Then commanding the other drones, she continued, “As for the rest… kill them once we’re gone and bring me that Miraculous and the Ruby Princess Gem.”

She turned to leave, saying to Quantum Menace, “Come, my pet, let’s be off while the drones deal with this riff-raff.”

Quantum Menace perked up for the first time during the encounter and nodded his assent to Moth Queen, raking his claws in the air and making a tear. Papillon could make out some sort of foggy swamp on the other side of the portal as the pair walked through.

The drones carrying the struggling Chloé flew towards the portal as well.

“Not today, you stupid insects,” Chat Noir growled, snapping her staff in half to reveal a sharp blade on either end, which she hurled at the fleeing drones.

The blades struck true, slicing through the robot bugs, and Chloé fell with a scream to Papillon’s horror.

She needn’t have worried as Chat Noir streaked through the air, leaping to catch Chloé and landing safely beside Papillon and Ladybug with the blonde in her arms bridal-style.

“She’s very impressive,” Ladybug said, wide-eyed.

Papillon had to agree with that.

Chloé trembled with fear—not that Papillon blamed her—as Chat Noir gently sat her down on shaky legs.

“You alright, beautiful?” a smirking Chat Noir asked Chloé.

Papillon’s eyes went wide. Surely, she had heard that wrong.

Chloé blinked at Chat Noir before giving her an unsteady, “Y-yes, maybe? I think?”

Adrien and the others caught up to Papillon’s group as Moth Queen screamed in frustrated rage from the other side of the portal, “You’ll pay for your stupidity! Attack, my drones!”

Ladybug took a deep breath and held her rod in front of her like a club, which didn’t reassure Papillon. 

“I may have exhausted my powers,” the princess said, determined. “But I’ll protect all of you with everything I’ve got!”

“We’re with you,” Adrien agreed.

“Right!” Alya added as Nino held up his fists, ready to fight.

“Let them come to us,” Papillon said, voice grim. “We fight as a team.”

“I have a better idea,” Chat Noir purred, gently tracing a claw lightly over Chloé’s cheek. The black-clad hero’s smirk grew into a grin as she eyed the blonde heiress, who had the decency to blush as her eyes went impossibly wide. Chat Noir’s finger stopped at Chloé’s chin, which the newcomer tilted down towards her own face.

“What?” Papillon said, unnerved by this Chat Noir’s bizarre behavior. What was she doing with Chloé’s face? Why was she doing anything with Chloé’s face in the first place? Whatever this was needed to stop immediately as far as Papillon was concerned.

Ignoring Papillon’s panicked question, Chat Noir closed her eyes, pulled Chloé in, and kissed her full on the lips. 

The kiss was brief, gentle, and strangely sweet, reminding Papillon of her earlier kiss with Adrien, which sent a chill up her spine.

Papillon stared in slack-jawed silence as her brain refused to process the scene in front of her. Papillon now had an intimate understanding of the term “existential crisis” and she didn’t like it. Not. One. Bit.

At least, she thought, Chloé has the decency to look as weirded out as I am!

Papillon barely registered Ladybug breathlessly saying, “Oh my goodness!”

Chat Noir pulled back with a satisfied smirk on her face, as she said, “For luck.”

Then before anyone could respond, Chat Noir stepped towards the oncoming drones, raised her arms in front of her and crossed them with claws extended, facing out. 

She crouched and black energy crackled around each claw. The air felt charged with energy as Chat Noir shouted, “Tiger’s Strike Cataclysm!” 

As she finished calling on her power, Chat Noir jumped twenty meters to the nearest drone. She slashed it with her Cataclysm and the drone exploded. 

Chat Noir used the exploding drone to launch herself at the next one, repeating the Cataclysm attack as she moved from exploding drone to exploding drone almost quicker than the eye could track.

Ladybug gasped. “She is _really_ impressive!”

“She’s certainly got a flair for the dramatic, doesn’t she?” Nino said. 

Alya buried her face in her hands and groaned, “Why did I drop my phone when the stupid bugs showed up? I should be recording this!”

“When I get my ring back,” Adrien added. “And I will get it back—I’m going to have her teach me that move.”

A silently blushing Chloé, eyes glued to Chat Noir as the hero quickly and expertly destroyed the drones, hesitantly touched her fingers to her lips as if where Chat Noir had kissed her was charged with electricity. 

“I have no idea what is happening here,” Papillon admitted.

Chat Noir landed in front of them as the last of the drones fell to the ground, exploding behind her and once again silhouetting her as the wind ruffled her wild, unruly mane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the official first day of the kwami swap since yesterday was technically the prequel chapter. Apologies if that wasn't clear from yesterday.
> 
> Hopefully, everyone is enjoying the Magical Girl version of Ladybug and Action-Hero Marinette as Chat Noir!
> 
> I'm currently rewriting Days 4 and 5 (because I didn't like Day 5 and that necessitated rethinking Day 4.) That means that the last couple of days might be a bit late, but my beta reader loves this story, so I'll press on!
> 
> I'd love feedback about what you like and what you might like to see!
> 
> Also, this is the first time I've written an Adrien-Marinette identity reveal to the best of my recollection. Odd when you think about it, I guess.
> 
> See you tomorrow!
> 
> p.s.
> 
> The princess is the Gwen Stacy of this little adventure. Should have pointed that out originally. In every multiverse shindig, you need one alt that isn't just another iteration of the main character. Sorry for leaving that off the original note!


	3. Meet Chat Noir, Hero of the French Resistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning... angst ahead.

_Listen up because I’m only saying this one time!_

_My name is Marie Dupain. Five years ago, my brother, Andre, and I accompanied our parents to South America on an archaeological dig where Andre discovered the Panther Totem, becoming the famous masked hero of Paris, Chat Noir. For three years, Andre kept the city safe while I helped keep his identity secret from our parents._

_We were a pretty great team if I do say so myself._

_But everything changed when the Nazis invaded. Our parents went missing, and while Andre fought valiantly to keep Paris safe after the occupation, he never lived to see our beautiful city freed. He sacrificed his life gathering intelligence for the Allies, and I inherited his Panther Totem, assuming his place as Chat Noir, hero of the French Resistance._

_For the rest of the war, I fought to save Paris and all of France from the invaders. It was tough and I lost too many friends along the way, but nothing was going to stop us from retaking our home, and eventually we did as I helped the Allies liberate France and win the war._

_Now that the war is over, I still patrol Paris but I’m starting to wonder if I should hang up my claws. I’m not sure what my purpose is without the war and without Andre or my parents._

_Sure I’m famous, but I don’t do this for statues or to have my face plastered over the front pages of the papers. I do this because I’m the only one capable of protecting my city._

_There’s only one Chat Noir._

_And you’re looking at her._

* * *

“Sheer purr-fection as always,” Chat Noir said, using her knuckles to brush some imaginary dust off her shoulder as she approached across the ruined school courtyard

Papillon grimaced from the pain in her shoulder, wondering grimly if the grip of the drone’s pincers had dislocated it, and muttered, “Great, more puns.”

Truthfully, she had come to appreciate _her_ Chat Noir’s puns, and they were one of the best parts of working with her partner, but this wasn’t her Chat Noir. It was… well… _her_ … sort of.

All of this was way too confusing.

Adrien put a gentle hand on her good shoulder. “We need to get that looked at immediately.”

“Oh!” Ladybug said, looking at Papillon with concern. “I can help.” 

“Not yet,” Papillon insisted, gritting her teeth. The pain was intense but her Miraculous powers helped her keep enough focus to do what needed to be done. “We should get off the street. Our friends will have too many questions we can’t answer, and there’s no way the police aren’t already on their way.”

“Right,” Alya said, dashing over to where she had dropped her phone and retrieving it. Finding it unbroken, she had a smile on her face as she returned.

Chloé’s phone buzzed and she glanced at it. “Sabrina’s asking if we’re safe. Once those dreadful insects started attacking, the teachers moved everyone deeper inside the building.”

“Tell her we made it to my place, Chloé,” Papillon replied, trying to keep a pleasant tone despite the pain even if she hated having to deal with her least favorite classmate besides Lila. “It’s safe and we can figure things out from there.” 

Chloé made a sour face, and Papillon braced for a needless argument just because she had been the one to make the suggestion, but Chloé paused, looking unsure, before huffing out a sigh and saying, “Fine, but only because I’m hungry and your family makes a half-decent pastry.”

Papillon ignored the quick, nervous glance Chloé directed at Chat Noir because that road led to madness.

A buzzing noise came from Chat Noir’s direction and she frowned. “Actually,” she said. “My totem is almost out of energy, which is my cue to bid you all farewell.”

“Wait!” Papillon exclaimed, ignoring the part about totems. She figured that was what this Chat Noir called her Miraculous and she could always ask about that later. “I’m hurt and Ladybug is out on her feet.” She ignored Ladybug’s indignant denial and continued, “We need your help, Chat Noir.”

“I won’t be much use for a while,” the hero countered, looking like she’d rather be anywhere than with them at the moment.

“We can get your kwami some food,” Adrien offered, and the three non-kwami bearers looked at him curiously.

The ears on Chat Noir’s headband twitched with annoyance. “Won’t matter after a Tiger’s Strike Cataclysm. That takes Plagg a day to recover from even with the stinkiest cheese you can find.”

“Oh,” Chloé said, her shoulders slumping slightly in disappointment. “You’re not coming with us?”

Chat Noir studied the blonde heiress for a long moment with a contemplative, steady gaze before smirking at her like she was catnip, which made Papillon want to shout at both of them to just stop whatever this was because it wasn’t happening in a million years if she had anything to say about it.

“Well,” Chat Noir purred, smoothly leaning into Chloé’s personal space. “I guess I could find a nice sunbeam to curl up in if I can talk you into taking a catnap with me, sweetheart.”

Chloé blushed and Papillon heard herself utter some sort of low warning growl, which caused Chat Noir to raise an eyebrow at her and ask with a grin, “Am I treading on your turf, Butterfly?”

“No,” Papillon said, sounding strangled. “No. Just… bakery. Go to bakery. Now.”

With that eloquent proclamation, she turned and left, deciding if any of them followed, they followed. If not, whatever. She had a date with a long, hot bath where she would scrub the memory of this away forever assuming she didn’t need to go to the hospital for her bleeding shoulder. 

Papillon had never been so glad her home was close to school as she was right then. Not to mention that her parents were out of town on their vacation. She opened the door and the entire gang hurried in. Alya and Nino were having their own quiet conversation, and Papillon knew that it was only due to years of friendship that the pair wasn’t hounding her with questions. Next, Adrien came in asking Chat Noir about the Cataclysm move she’d used in the battle. Those two were followed by a very quiet Chloé, who kept shooting Chat Noir sneaky glances and finally Ladybug who kept shooting Chloé sneaky glances, which made sense considering she, like Papillon, had just met her own doppelganger.

Once Papillon closed the door, they made their way upstairs to the family room. Papillon, not wanting to get blood on the furniture, slumped down to sit on the floor beside the television and flicked it on to see what the news reports were saying.

Nadja Chamack must have made it back from the park because she was reporting, her voice full of concern.

“Authorities are urging citizens to stay inside their homes or find the nearest shelter,” the reporter said. “These strange creatures have so far refrained from attacking any buildings, although they seem to be looking for something or someone. If you have any tips or if you know how to get in touch with Ladybug and Chat Noir, please contact the police immediately.”

Papillon sighed. This made it easier in some ways. “Everyone should call their families,” she advised her friends and Chloé. Everyone complied except the two newest Miraculous bearers, who had no one here to call. 

“Ladybug, do you have any idea how Moth Queen tracked down my half of the Ladybug Miraculous?” Papillon asked.

Ladybug scrunched her nose rather adorably as she considered the question. “She probably used a scrying spell since she didn’t come straight after me.”

That tracked with Papillon’s suspicion. When she had tried using her earring to find the lost one, it had led her straight to Ladybug’s Princess Gem. What she hadn’t been able to figure out was how Moth Queen separated the two Miraculous. Maybe a this “scrying spell” could do that. Of course, that did bring up another question.

“So she’ll be able to track us here?” she asked.

Her question was greeted by Ladybug’s bright grin. “Nope!” she proclaimed and held her staff up saying, “Princess Gem Ritual: Veiled Refuge!”

The ruby on the staff sparked and then the sunlight seemed to dim for a brief moment before returning to normal.

“Now, Moth Queen can’t scry us while we’re in your home,” Ladybug stated, kneeling beside her and looking at her firmly, “Papillon, you have to let me heal you. This is a really serious wound.”

The girl looked exhausted and Papillon wanted to argue with her, but Ladybug already had stood again with her rod pointed at Papillon declaring, “Princess Gem Maiden Power… Rejuvenation!”

Warm, pink light enveloped Papillon, instantly draining away any pain and fatigue. She reached up to her shoulder and found it was completely healed. Even her suit was mended, reminding her of her own Miraculous Ladybug power.

Papillon didn’t have a chance to thank Ladybug as the girl stumbled backwards. Fortunately, Alya caught her and, along with Nino and Adrien, helped Ladybug to the sofa.

Chat Noir and Chloé looked on with worry that Papillon shared. 

“Wings down, Nooroo,” Papillon said, releasing her transformation. Marinette noticed Chat Noir watching her closely now that she had resumed her civilian identity.

Adrien had Ladybug stretched out with her head in his lap, and he stroked her hair. 

“Hey, Princess,” he said, voice tender. She was so touched seeing how gentle and caring Adrien was that Marinette didn’t even feel a hint of jealousy. It didn’t hurt, of course, that Princess Chloé and the other Chloé were so different that Marinette didn’t have any problem keeping them separate in her head. 

“Princess,” Adrien continued. “You’ve been great taking care of us, so why don’t you transform and let us take care of you?”

Ladybug nodded and whispered, “In the name of love and justice… Release.”

One flash of light later, Tikki was fussing over Princess Chloé, demanding the girl stop pushing herself that hard.

Meanwhile beside Marinette, Chloé put a hand to her mouth with a gasp.

“Is she your younger sister?” Chat Noir asked Chloé, who shook her head.

“If she is, I’ve never met her before,” Chloé said, confused.

“She’s you,” Marinette answered. “Sort of, at least. She’s a version of you from another universe.”

That buzzing sound arose from Chat Noir’s person again, and Marinette looked at the girl’s hands. She didn’t see the ring Adrien had. Her totem, as she called it, must be something else.

“Another universe?” Chat Noir replied, voice low. “Weird.”

Marinette turned to her and said, “You’re from another universe, too, aren’t you? I mean I think I’d know if I had a twin.”

Chloé blinked. “What? What do you mean?”

Surprised, Marinette turned to Chloé. How had she not noticed the similarity?

Before she could speak, Chat Noir chuckled. “And I thought I’d traveled through time to meet my descendants.”

“Descendants? As in plural?” Marinette asked. She could understand why this Chat Noir would assume the two of them were related, but who else could the strange superhero be referring to?

Chat Noir nodded at Adrien. “You and your brother, of course.”

Everyone took a long moment to process that.

“What?!” Marinette exclaimed when she could stop sputtering long enough to speak again. “We’re not related! We’re… dating!”

Adrien nodded fierce agreement.

“Hm,” Chat Noir said with a shrug. “Maybe I haven’t time traveled then. Another world, you say?”

“Why don’t you tell us more about yourself?” Adrien said as he went to stand by Marinette, who noticed Chloé had replaced him on the sofa, gently stroking the princess’ hair as the young girl snuggled into Chloé’s lap while drifting into sleep.

Chloé looked shaken to Marinette, but she also looked contemplative as she locked eyes with Marinette’s double. Marinette decided she’d go insane over that later and turned her attention to Chat Noir.

Having all eyes on her, Chat Noir preened and then pointed a clawed thumb at herself.

“I’m Chat Noir,” she declared as if daring anyone to disagree. “And all you really need to know is I’m the one alley cat you don’t want to cross, so if these bugs think they’re going to get away with invading Paris, I’m the pretty kitty you want on your side.”

Marinette wondered if she had come across even half this cocky when she was Ladybug.

Chat Noir’s totem buzzed again and a panicked look crossed the hero’s face. 

“Oh no, not now,” she hissed, making a move towards the window to flee the bakery, but she was too late. In a flash of light, her transformation broke, leaving a cranky, exhausted Plagg hovering in front of her.

“Ugh,” Plagg groaned. “Did you have to use that move again, Marie?”

“Marie,” Marinette whispered absently, taking in the sight of her alternate universe double in her civilian identity. 

Pink dusted Marie’s cheeks under Plagg’s admonishment, and she bowed her head, staring hard at her sensible brown shoes. Marie was dressed in a threadbare blouse with a blue and white checked pattern, a plain brown woolen skirt that went to her knees, and the aforementioned heavy brown shoes with white, knee-high socks that somehow managed to look even more threadbare than the blouse. Everything about the girl out of her costume was nothing Marinette would have expected of the brash hero.

Noticing Marinette’s stare, Marie drew in on herself and hunched her shoulders. Her voice was barely audible as she said, “Not too impressive, I know.”

Plagg let out an exasperated sigh. “Marie,” he said, fondly. “If you weren’t impressive, I wouldn’t have chosen you to bear my totem.”

Marie shrugged and her blush deepened. Unfortunately, she stared even harder at her own feet if that was possible as she mumbled something Marinette couldn’t hear.

Marinette spared a glance at Adrien, who visibly paled at the sight of Plagg, and noticed Chloé, staring wide-eyed at Marinette’s counterpart.

Plagg heard whatever it was Marie had said if his growl was any indication.

“Yes,” the kwami grumped. “I chose your brother, Andre, to be Chat Noir, but when he died, I chose you.”

Marie’s face crumpled and Plagg softened, flying over to his bearer’s shoulder and whispering comforting words to her.

Marie had a brother, Andre, and Marinette didn’t have to guess who his counterpart in this world was after Chat Noir’s earlier assumption. So, just like with Princess Chloé, it wasn’t an exact match across universes.

Marinette was at a loss not knowing what to say to her counterpart, but fortunately her friends were quick to take up the slack.

“Yeah,” Alya said, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder. “We were toast without you and mini-Chloé over there. No offense to you guys,” she added to Marinette, Adrien, and Nino.

Nino laughed. “None taken,” he said brightly. “First time I’ve tried being a superhero, so I was glad for the help.”

Adrien cleared his throat and said, “Take it from someone who knows, you make a great Chat Noir.”

Marinette looked at Adrien, trying to determine if he was faking good cheer, but she knew he had many years of experience burying his emotions to draw from.

Plagg squinted at Adrien from his perch on Marie’s shoulder. “You’re the Chat Noir of this world, aren’t you?”

As attention turned to Adrien, Marinette noticed Marie trying to make herself as unnoticed as possible, backing to the wall and standing in the shadows.

Adrien scratched the back of his head giving Plagg a sheepish smile. “Yeah,” he affirmed.

Plagg nodded. “I can smell the Miraculous on you,” he said. “Doesn’t hurt that you’re the exact image of my last bearer.” 

Marie broke in hesitantly. “Plagg, should I… um… turn over the totem to him?” she asked sounding fearful of the answer.

“What?!” Adrien exclaimed. “You can’t do that! Don’t worry, I’ll get my Miraculous back soon!” 

Plagg smiled at his bearer. “Yeah, kid, you aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”

Marie nodded awkwardly, and no one seemed to know what to do to ease the tension until Chloé broke in.

“Would you like to sit… Marie, was it?” she asked nonchalantly as if the answer either way was of no consequence to her whatsoever while continuing to idly stroke the princess’ hair, who smiled in her sleep. “You must be tired after squishing all those icky insects, and there’s room on the sofa, I mean, and I should offer it to someone before Marinette accuses me of being selfish.”

Marinette let the semi-insult slide. It was hard enough for Chloé to be gracious at the best of times and Marinette decided if the brat needed the excuse, it was worth it this time. Of course, it wasn’t as if Chloé was being subtle. There was maybe a few centimeters of unoccupied space on the sofa not taken up by Chloé and the curled up princess, and God, did Marinette suddenly wish her mom hadn’t replaced the large sectional sofa they used to have with a more traditional model.

Marie’s blush intensified to a fiery red as her eyes locked on Chloés. 

“You? Beside sit? I m-mean…” Marie replied to the blonde’s shameless ploy, trailing off stuttering. 

Marinette wondered if her counterpart was going to faint. It reminded Marinette of how she acted around Adrien when she first started crushing on him and she was simultaneously embarrassed at how she must have come across back then and internally shrieking that her double was crushing on Chloé the same way of all the people in any universe.

“What did your families say?” Marinette blurted out, hoping to change the subject to anything else.

Chloé shrugged. “Daddy wanted to send the police to come get me, but I told him that would be a waste since I’m perfectly fine where I am,” she said, sounding annoyed with Marinette for interrupting whatever moment had been happening.

Alya and Nino indicated much the same, but Adrien frowned. 

“I couldn’t get in touch with my father,” he said. “Nathalie said he was in a meeting when the attack happened and he’s safe but doesn’t have his phone with him.”

Marinette noticed Nooroo giving Adrien a sad look, but she was distracted by Marie cautiously trying—and spectacularly failing—to act casual as she sidled up to the sofa and sat stiffly, putting the princess’ feet into her lap. She and Chloé were pointedly not looking at each other while Marie turned a shade of color any tomato would envy.

Marinette felt a tension headache coming on.

“Okay, as long as we’re all staying here, we should eat,” she said, plastering a fake grin on her face and forcing as much false cheer into her voice as she could muster. “I’ll go make something for everyone.” 

She needed to separate herself from whatever was happening between those two.

“I’ll come with,” Alya volunteered, sounding sincerely cheerful at the opportunity to interrogate her friend over her secret life as a superhero.

Marinette chuckled wryly. She should have seen that coming.

They weren’t even two steps towards the kitchen before Alya started hammering her with questions.

Holding up a hand, Marinette said, “One thing at a time. I’ll tell you everything while we make the food, okay?”

“Fine,” Alya groaned, sounding put upon. “But you tell me everything, got it?”

And so Marinette did. She started from the beginning and quickly worked her way to today’s events. She skipped past the parts about Master Fu because that was an entire other can of worms, and she honestly didn’t have answers for Alya about Adrien’s life as Chat Noir. Other than that, she came clean, which seemed to satisfy her inquisitive friend.

Of course, Alya wasn’t letting her off too easy, voicing her complaints.

“How could you keep this from me, Marinette?” Alya teased with a smile. “I feel seriously neglected as your BFF!”

Marinette put the finishing touch on the last sandwich, hoping everyone liked the food. She paused for a second, hopping up to set on the counter, before answering, “It’s because of Hawk Moth, Alya. If he akumatized anyone who knew my identity, it would have put my family and you and every one of my friends in danger.”

Alya also hopped up to sit on the counter and pulled her into a one-armed side-hug. “You know I’m not actually mad at you, right?”

Marinette sighed while her friend squeezed her tightly. “I know,” she replied, sinking into the comfort of the embrace. “I hated not being honest with you.”

“So…” Alya grinned as she pulled back. It was a smile that made Marinette nervous because she’d seen that smile before when Alya had what was in her opinion the juiciest gossip. Her fear was confirmed when Alya nudged her shoulder with her own and the smile turned devious as she asked, “Want to talk about the budding romance?”

Marinette blushed. “Adrien’s been so great!” she gushed. “He’s understanding and kind and supportive and ugh I didn’t think I could like him more than I already did but oh my god, Alya, he’s seriously the best!”

Alya laughed. “I know, I know! And you two are so perfect for each other!” she said, excited, but she quickly sobered. She turned her head, avoiding looking Marinette in the eyes. “But I kind of meant the _other_ budding romance.”

Marinette felt like her stomach dropped to her toes. “Not engaging on that subject,” she said with finality.

“Really?” Alya said with a smirk that turned into a genuine smile as she continued, “Honestly, it’s kind of sweet how they’re being so shy around each other, and you know it’s better than her trying to break you and Adrien up, right?”

For a long moment, Marinette gave her best friend in the entire world her flattest, most unimpressed stare and then wordlessly picked up the tray of sandwiches and walked to the family room followed by a very annoying junior reporter slash supposed best friend.

There she found everyone chatting quietly. Princess Chloé had awoken and sat in the floor, cheerfully talking in a very animated fashion to the assembled kwami. Nino sat on the arm of the sofa beside Adrien, who had taken one end, which moved Marie to the middle squashed up against a jittery Chloé.

Marinette noted that there was no good reason for Adrien to take up that much space on the sofa.

“Traitor,” she muttered under her breath, glaring at her boyfriend while he tried to look innocent. 

Alya snorted beside her. “Seems I’m not the only one who noticed,” she whispered. “And looks like I’m not the only fan of romance, either. Your boy is working his matchmaking magic.”

Marinette sighed. At least, Marie and Chloé weren’t making out or anything. After that earlier kiss, Marinette had feared her double might jump Chloé at the first opportunity. Instead, the two sat there very chastely and very quietly—unusual to say the least when it came to Chloé—with their hands barely brushing against each other’s as Adrien scooted towards the middle, unsubtly pushing them even closer together.

“Food’s here,” Marinette announced, trying and failing to keep the annoyance out of her voice, which drew another amused laugh from her supposed BFF.

Alya put the tray of various kwami foods on the coffee table in front of the sofa while Marinette passed out plates of sandwiches for the humans.

After giving everyone time to get started, Marinette dove right into the heart of the matter.

“So,” she said, getting everyone’s attention. “We’re facing a possible full-scale invasion from the princess’ world, and we need a plan. What are we up against, Princess Chloé?”

The princess finished chewing her dainty bite of sandwich before answering, “Well, you’ve already faced drones. There are a lot of them, but they aren’t too hard to take down since they’re just dark magic constructs.”

Ever inquisitive, Alya eagerly asked, “What do you mean?”

“We don’t have to hold back,” the princess replied. “They’re not really alive, so destroying them isn’t hurting anyone.”

Sighing, Princess Chloé continued, “That isn’t the case for everyone in the Moth Queen’s army. She creates and enslaves monsters. They’re harder for her to make, though, because we never see more than one or two at a time. I do everything I can to free them because they usually don’t want to serve the Moth Queen in the first place.”

“Akumas,” Marinette said, feeling pity for anything forced to do the bidding of someone like Hawk Moth or the Moth Queen. “Anything else?”

Princess Chloé blanched and fiddled with her sandwich.

“Corrupted knights,” Tikki offered in her place. “Human warriors who have pledged loyalty to the Moth Queen for power. Besides the queen herself, they’re the most dangerous enemies. They’re strong and very hard to take down.”

The princess sighed again. “I wish Masked Cat was here. She’s great at helping me defeat Moth Queen’s knights.”

“Masked Cat?” Alya perked up again. She was always interested in new Miraculous heroes. “Is that your Chat Noir?”

“She _is_ like Chat Noir!” Princess Chloé answered with a dreamy sigh. “She’s beautiful and mysterious and always there to support me no matter how bad the trouble is.”

“Hold on,” Alya said, grabbing her tablet and taking notes. “I want to get all this down for the record.

There were practically stars in the princess’ eyes as she continued to gush. “Oh, she’s just the best, Alya! She has this elegant suit like Papillon’s, but instead of lilac—which is such a beautiful color, Marinette, so don’t worry because you look great—Masked Cat’s suit is this chic midnight black, and her eyes are the clearest, purest teal I’ve ever seen in my life…”

The princess let out another wistful sigh, resting her chin in her palm as she leaned forward, idly tracing patterns on the table, lost in thought.

“This Masked Cat hasn’t tried anything with you, has she?” Chloé asked the princess with narrowed eyes and a hard set to her mouth. 

Surprisingly, Adrien mirrored Chloé’s expression precisely as he pointedly asked, “How old is this Masked Cat anyway?” 

Marinette had to fight a smirk watching the two transform into overprotective mother hens as the panicked princess protested.

“Masked Cat is always a perfect gentlewoman!” the blushing preteen insisted. “A-and it’s not like that at all! We’re just allies in the fight for justice standing up to the Moth Queen!”

Deciding to take pity on the flustered princess, Marinette spoke up. “We’re getting off track. Plan first; interrogate later, you two.”

Grumbling, Chloé and Adrien dropped the subject although Marinette was pretty sure it would come up again soon.

“Should we be worried about anything else, Princess?” she asked.

The princess shook her head. “No,” she said, thankful for the save. “Nothing I’m aware of.”

“Okay, we know basically what we’re up against. Now how do we stop them?” Marinette looked around the table. 

Marie looked like she wanted to say something, so Marinette encouraged her.

“Marie, you were great against the drones today and Chat Noir’s advice is always welcome,” she said. “I could use your help figuring out what to do.”

The nervous girl shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Chloé took her hand, which seemed to put her at ease, and Marinette decided to just go with it. It wasn’t as if she was the one flirting with the vain bully.

Marinette smiled, hoping to ease Marie’s nerves. “You have a suggestion?” she asked.

It seemed a real effort for Marie to speak as she started and stopped several times.

“Spit it out, kid,” Plagg joked, flying to her shoulder. “You’ve always got good ideas.”

“We take the fight to them,” Marie stated, eyes closed tight. “If that person you fought earlier is the one opening these gates, we need to capture him.”

Marinette nodded. “Okay, we have a goal. We can work on a plan after we rest up tonight—No argument, Princess. You and Chat Noir are our heavy hitters and we need you both at full strength. Tomorrow we take the fight to them.”

“What if something happens before tomorrow?” Alya asked.

Adrien answered, “We deal with that if it happens, but I agree with Marinette. We should rest and get ready.”

“So…” Princess Chloé said, doodling with a finger in a bit of jam on her plate. “This is like a sleepover?”

The hope in her voice was unmistakable.

“Do you like sleepovers?” Chloé asked her counterpart, seeming amused.

“Do I like sleepovers?!” Princess Chloé enthused, practically vibrating. “They’re just my favorite thing in the whole world! And now I get to have a sleepover with brand new friends in a brand new world and we can play sleepover games from all of our worlds!”

She couldn’t seem to contain herself any longer, springing to her feet. The excited girl grinned at Chloé, taking her hands in hers.

“And even better than just having new friends at a sleepover, I get to have you there, too, and you’re more or less my sister since we’re practically the same person!” she declared. “I’ve always wanted a sister and I saw you attack those drones when they pinned Adrien and you’re so cool and amazing and now we get to have a sleepover and get to know each other better!”

Marinette couldn’t help but smirk as the rich brat looked for all the world like she’d just unwittingly stepped into a of trap while the princess began interrogating her over what games Chloé liked to play during sleepovers.

Alya decided to take pity on Chloé and distracted the princess with her phone, looking up various games they were sure to play tonight. And of course, if the subject of parties came up, Nino and Adrien couldn’t help but offer their insights. Marie was curious about the new technologies she was encountering and allowed herself to be dragged into the conversation as well. 

Marinette, meanwhile, took the opportunity to slip upstairs to her room where she called Master Fu and updated him. He was on board with their plan and told them to hold tight for the evening. After that, she called her parents who were relieved she was okay and angry that Paris was under a travel ban, meaning they couldn’t return. It took Marinette nearly half an hour to calm her dad down enough to be sure he wasn’t going to try to sneak into Paris somehow, but eventually after many promises to keep safe, which she knew she couldn’t keep, they were satisfied enough for Marinette to feel comfortable ending the conversation.

Returning to the family room, she found herself alone with Chloé, who was once again sitting on the sofa with a photo in her hands. Marinette recognized it as the picture Alya had taken of her holding the derby hat she entered into the fashion contest Gabriel judged. She had been so happy to win the contest even if Adrien hadn’t been able to model it because of his feather allergy. Her mom had loved the photo so much, she’d insisted on framing it and prominently featuring it on the bookshelf where she kept all her family photos.

Chloé didn’t seem to notice her reentering the room as she delicately traced a finger over the picture with a wistful sigh.

Marinette felt a shiver go down her spine. The last thing she wanted was to play any part in The Sexual Awakening of Chloé Bourgeois. 

The fact that it was an alternate universe version of her from a different time period still didn’t generate enough distance between her and the blonde brat for her liking. Sure it had been a long day, but just that morning Chloe had been plotting to ruin her life. The thought that mere hours later she was falling for Marie… it made her feel like her skin was on too tight.

“What are you doing?” Marinette blurted out in a panic. “Put that back!”

Chloé jumped at the noise, fumbling the photo before slamming it face-down on the couch. Her eyes met Marinette’s and she blushed making Marinette’s rising panic even more acute.

“I was just—” Chloé began before Marinette talked over her.

“Being a creep,” Marinette insisted, annoyingly starting to turn just as red as Chloe with anger and sheer awkwardness. 

Chloé’s embarrassment immediately faded, replaced with her usual contemptuous sneer.

“I was only surprised at the resemblance considering Marie is sweet and nice, and you’re… you,” Chloé snarked, standing and walking towards Marinette.

“Whatever,” Marinette snapped, voice rising as she stepped forward, too, intent on not backing down from her nemesis. “When this is over, she’ll go home and you’ll still be… you.”

“Excuse you!” Chloé replied, voice rising to meet Marinette’s. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Marinette repeated in disbelief. The stress of the entire day erupted inside her and she found herself shouting at Chloé. “I spent the first half of today trying to convince an animal shelter and the police I’m not a black market pet smuggler! That was all you, Bourgeois!”

She only barely registered the others coming up the stairs to investigate the raised voices as she continued, “And maybe if you hadn’t dedicated your entire life to making me miserable, I would have been at that conference before everything went to hell and I might have stopped Quantum Menace before he took Tikki from me!”

By this point the two girls were nose to nose as Chloé responded, “Don’t put your failures on me, Marinette!”

“Yeah, you’ve got plenty of failure to claim for yourself, Chloé,” Marinette bit out. “So don’t add more to the list. You’re a one-woman force of destruction. You can’t help it, I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that the longer you’re around Marie and the Princess, the worse off they’ll be, so if you really care about them, which is literally impossible in my opinion, the best thing you can do is stay far away from them.”

Chloé recoiled from her in surprise. “What does the princess have to do with this?”

“You’ll ruin her, just like you ruin everything you touch,” Marinette snarled.

The stinging pain in Marinette’s cheek told her that her words struck true, and she reached up, holding her face in surprise.

For her part, Chloé had grasped the hand that had just slapped Marinette with her other hand as if the offending limb had acted of its own accord.

With watery eyes, Chloé’s lower lip trembled, and for one brief second it was as if time had stopped with everything frozen in place.

The silence was broken as Chloé’s face morphed into a mask of rage, and she bit out through gritted teeth, “Fuck you, Marinette. Just… fuck you.”

Marinette was used to being on the receiving end of Chloé’s disdain. The feeling was mutual, really. 

This was different, though. This was pure hatred. It was as if an imaginary line had been crossed from which there might not be a return.

Marinette stood fists clenched at her side, seething in silence as the blonde shouldered past their audience and down the stairs. 

She could hear sobs from below in the bakery, and guilt gnawed at Marinette. She had wanted to hurt Chloé and she had succeeded. Part of her felt guilt lashing out as she had, but a not-insignificant part of her felt smug satisfaction that she had finally reduced her hated classmate to physical violence. In a twisted way, it meant she had finally won the long, bitter war between the two of them.

Her hand drifted to her still smarting cheek as she heard Adrien clear his throat.

“Can you give us a minute alone?” he asked the others.

Great, Marinette thought. Now for the lecture about how it’s always my responsibility to forgive Chloé for all the terrible things she does to me.

She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. After at least thirty seconds of silence, she opened her eyes to find Adrien staring out the window.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she asked, voice thick with emotion.

He didn’t move… didn’t turn towards her… but he did speak. “She can be pretty terrible, can’t she?”

“Yeah,” Marinette agreed, not bothering to keep sarcasm and anger out of her voice. “It’s her talent.”

Adrien sighed and turned, walking to her. He didn’t look angry, just sad, and that made Marinette even more annoyed. She hated feeling like she’d failed some sort of test.

Marinette also hated she was causing Adrien pain, but he had to see that Chloé was poison. She would never understand how that girl had twisted someone as pure and good as Adrien around her manicured finger.

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked, taking her off guard. She had expected him to defend his friend, but instead, his concern was for her.

That almost hurt even worse than if he was angry or disappointed.

“No,” she answered honestly. “Not really.”

He pulled her into a gentle hug, saying, “I know she provoked you, and I’ll talk to her, okay?”

His gentle reassurance was what pushed her over the edge. 

“I—” she began to confess it wasn’t all Chloé’s fault for once. She had been the one to overreact first when she saw Chloé with the photo.

Adrien didn’t let her finish, though, as he said, “But Marinette, there are things I don’t think you understand about Chloé’s family. Her relationship with her family is… complicated, and bringing the Princess into your argument pushed a lot of Chloé’s buttons.”

Her anger flared, overriding her guilt and regret, and she pulled back from him.

“Seriously?” she asked, bitterly, wondering just how Chloé had managed to sucker Adrien so badly. “The only problem in Chloé’s family is Chloé. Her precious daddy is wrapped around her little finger. She gets whatever she wants and never faces consequences. End of story.”

Adrien’s face hardened. 

Great, Marinette thought. Our first argument as a couple and of course it’s over Chloé Bourgeois.

“She doesn’t get whatever she wants,” Adrien replied, holding his hand up to stop Marinette from interrupting. “Let me finish. Chloé gets everything except what she really wants. She doesn’t get his attention, and trust me, Marinette, a father can give you more money than you can spend or as many things money can buy, and it still hurts when the only time he pays attention to you is when he believes you’ve screwed up.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So he’s busy. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her and it doesn’t excuse her behavior. You’ve had a difficult relationship with Gabriel, but you don’t go around terrorizing everyone.”

“I never said it excuses anything,” Adrien insisted. 

“You’re always making excuses for her,” Marinette responded.

“I just don’t advertise to the world when I’m upset with her,” Adrien said, and Marinette could see he was starting to lose his temper. “Just like now. I’m in love with you, Marinette, and while that doesn’t mean I always agree with you, I try to keep things like this private.”

She could see his point, and the defensiveness deflated. “I just don’t understand how you can think that her dad being busy as the mayor makes her such an evil little troll.”

“It’s not just him. It’s her mother, too,” Adrien explained, and she could see he was losing patience. “Chloé has a lot of… conflicted feelings about her mother.”

Marinette sighed and rubbed the back of her head. “Okay, I admit I’ve never really been too interested in the inner workings of Chloé’s family life to be honest. I know Chloé’s mother can make or break you in the fashion world and she lives in New York. I just don’t get how that matters. You have it just as bad or worse but you treat people with respect and kindness while she—”

“I had a mother who encouraged me to be a good person,” Adrien interrupted. “If you think Chloé is bad, you should meet her mother.”

“I don’t—” Marinette tried to interject, but Adrien kept going.

“Audrey refuses to even call Chloé by her name, Marinette,” he said. “She pretends she can’t remember it and calls her by random names just to hurt her.”

“What?” Marinette asked. Okay, that was pretty terrible, but still… 

“And that’s just the start of it,” Adrien continued. “She’s barely ever around, but on the few occasions she is, she has this perverse game where she constantly puts Chloé down. I mean… Marinette, she ignores Chloé’s birthday because she likes humiliating her own daughter, and that’s just one example.”

“That’s monstrous,” Marinette said, feeling a confusing mix guilt and sympathy and an unhealthy amount of anger that her resolve was starting to crumble.

“I keep thinking,” Adrien responded. “That Chloé and my mom kept me from turning out cold and distant like Father, especially Chloé after my mom disappeared because no matter how she is in public she was always great when I felt so alone, and I keep wondering if I had been in school with her from the start then maybe she wouldn’t have felt so alone and so insecure that she let herself become horrible trying to be the person her mom wants her to be.”

“You can’t blame yourself for how she acts,” Marinette insisted.

“I don’t,” he replied. “I only wish things were different.”

Marinette deflated as her anger dissipated. She sat where Chloé had sat and picked up the photo.

“She was looking at this,” she whispered, holding up the picture as Adrien sat beside her. “And she looked so… She was looking at this the way I look at you, and I panicked because this whole situation is just so surreal and then I see me or a version of me or whatever kissing Chloé and… I have no idea but it freaked me out.” She sat the photo down and rubbed at her temples. “I really screwed up.”

Adrien’s hand on her shoulder was warm and it was as if she took strength directly from him.

“One of the things I admire about you most,” Adrien encouraged. “Is that you do your best to fix things when you screw up.”

Marinette nodded. “This is going to suck, isn’t it?”

Adrien’s laugh came out as a snort. “Yeah, she won’t make it easy.”

Sighing, Marinette stood and walked down to the bakery where Chloé had fled and the others had gone to wait.

Except there was no Chloé.

“Please tell me Chloé didn’t leave in the middle of an invasion from another universe,” Marinette pleaded already knowing the answer.

“She did,” Alya replied. “We told her it wasn’t safe, but I wasn’t standing between her and that door, not with the look on her face.”

“Marie went after her,” Plagg said. “She’ll be fine.”

Marinette’s eyes went wide. “If Marie is out there, why are you in here?”

Plagg shrugged, unconcerned. “I’m still too weak to transform her. Probably.”

“Ugh,” Marinette groaned, looking at the ceiling and wondering why this was happening. “Fine. Nooroo, wings up!”

She transformed and opened the door. Before she could leave, she felt the princess’ hand on her arm.

“You’ll make this right,” Princess Chloé said with a small smile. “I know you will.”

Papillon patted the princess’ hand and returned the smile. “I’ll do my best.”

She let the door shut behind her and took to the air. She could see drones buzzing high in the air above, so she couldn’t gain altitude to try and spot her wayward companions.

Her best bet was to go towards Le Grand Paris. Chloé would go home, she thought. She only hoped she found them before some monster did.

Truthfully, she didn’t know if there was a path forward for Chloé and her, but her thoughts drifted back to this afternoon when Chloé had attacked drones with her bare hands trying to save Adrien. Anyone willing to do that had good in them somewhere. 

Deciding that she could sort all that out later once she found Marie and Chloé. For now, she refocused on staying alert.

She spotted a flash of yellow through the trees sprinkled across a park just ahead.

Papillon decided a cautious approach was best. If it wasn’t Chloé, then it was likely one of these new enemies, and if it was Chloé, Papillon didn’t want to encourage her to run away again.

She landed quietly in the treeline. A few meters away, Chloé sat with Marie on a park bench.

Papillon was distracted with a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to see, there wasn’t anything there.

Chloé’s soft sob pulled her attention back to the pair on the bench. Before she could call attention to herself, Chloé spoke.

“You should go back,” the blonde said. Her voice was quiet and small, so unlike her usual bluster. “I’m fine on my own.”

Instead of answering, Marie took Chloé’s hand in her own.

Hoping she wasn’t interrupting a moment of some sort, Papillon approached. The last thing she wanted to do was hide in the trees and spy on the couple.

Marie noticed her the moment she moved, but Chloé didn’t see her until she was halfway to them. The blonde stared at her with red, puffy eyes, her normally precise eye makeup smeared and staining her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” Papillon said, wanting to be direct and avoid a second disaster.

“Why?” Chloé asked harshly. “For being right?” 

She sounded as miserable as Papillon felt.

“Prove me wrong then,” Papillon replied. “You love it when I’m wrong.”

The only response was a quiet “hmph” from Chloé. 

Papillon stopped in front of her and said, “You don’t have to forgive me, Chloé, but come back to the bakery and get through tonight. I’ll keep my distance and If you want to go home in the morning, I promise we’ll get you home safe.”

Whatever answer Chloé was about to give was interrupted as Papillon noticed that same flicker out of the corner of her eye. Marie noticed, too, and both girls looked sharply into the darkness trying to make out whatever it was.

“What?” Chloé asked, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. “Is it more of those insects?”

“I don’t know,” Marie replied, still scanning the darkness, her timidity vanishing with potential danger nearby. “Something’s out there, though.”

A noise from the opposite direction the two Miraculous bearers were searching, drew their attention, and they looked to see a bright fog, too thick and spreading far too fast to be natural, rising up from the ground.

A tall man in glittering black armor walked out of the fog. Hovering above him was a small cadre of five or so drones.

“I am the Knight of the Mists,” he intoned, voice deep and somber, as he drew his blade. “In the name of the Moth Queen, you will surrender your half of the Miraculous, or you will pay with your lives.”

As he waited for an answer, his drones increased their altitude slightly to gain a better vantage.

Marie rose and stepped in front of Papillon and Chloé. Voice low, she said, “Protect her from the drones. I’ll deal with this bastard.”

“You can’t transform,” Papillon protested.

“It’s the same as you told the others earlier, Papillon,” came the reply from the resistance fighter as she looked around. “You’ve got the best chance of keeping her safe. If it comes to it, I’ll keep the knight distracted. Fight off the drones and get her out of here.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Chloé snarked as she stood up from the bench.

“No,” Marie said flatly as she looked at their surroundings.

Marie’s eyes locked on the decorative barrier a couple meters away that separated the park from the sidewalk, which consisted of cast iron spikes about a half meter in height with a single strand of chain hooking them together.

“Cut that chain, Papillon,” Marie commanded, and Papillon drew her blade and did so. 

The knight strode forward, blade glimmering in the moonlight as Marie pulled one of the posts free from the Earth, shaking the wet dirt from it and holding it in front of her like a sword. The end of the post was pointed, but far from sharp and Papillon didn’t think it would last an instant against the knight’s weapon.

The knight stopped only a few meters away. “You prefer to die then?” he asked.

“Go to hell,” Marie growled and charged the knight. 

Papillon didn’t have time to consider just how bad a plan this was. The drones were on her in an instant. Careful to keep herself between Chloé and the robotic insects, she slashed and stabbed at their weak spots. She considered her earlier encounter against them and realized she had been holding back, thinking these were living creatures.

Now, she knew better and she lashed out with deadly strike after deadly strike. In moments, three of the five were down, barely twitching as the magic that animated them faded.

“Help her!” Chloé shouted. “You don’t have to protect me. I’ll run away!”

Papillon risked a glance towards Marie who was dodging and weaving around her opponent, who only seemed able to land glancing blows against her makeshift weapon.

“She’s doing fine,” Papillon said, hoping she sounded encouraging as she dispatched the fourth bug.

That didn’t seem to be enough for Chloé as she let loose a howl of rage and ran towards Marie and the Knight of Mists, picking up and hurling small rocks at him as she went.

Papillon wanted to scream herself. 

“Come back here, Chloé, you idiot!” she called as she dispatched the final drone which had turned its attention to Chloé.

The furious blonde either didn’t hear her or didn’t care because she simply screamed louder as she ran.

The knight, distracted by the insane person running at him, lost track of Marie, who used the opportunity to slip inside his guard and thrust her spike in the joint where the shoulder pauldron met the chest, delivering what Papillon thought surely must be a mortal wound.

The knight’s death cry was savage, and he swiped his blade down at Papillon’s counterpart, catching her as he fell.

Marie cried out as well while her opponent crumpled to the ground, dying.

Gathering the wounded girl in her arms, Chloé asked in a voice thin with panic, “What happened to your ear?!”

As Papillon closed the distance, she could see that the blow had caught Marie on the side of the head. She knelt beside the wounded girl for a better look as Marie held a frantic Chloé at bay.

“Losing an ear is a small price to pay to keep you safe this time,” Marie murmured to Chloé. Her voice was worryingly faint.

Papillon didn’t have a chance to respond as there was another flicker at the edge of her vision. This time, however, the flicker materialized twenty meters away into a burly, three-meter tall armored figure.

“Another knight,” she growled, taking a position to try to defend her friends. She briefly considered making Chloé her champion, but discarded it instantly. Chloé was far too panicked over Marie to focus on a fight.

The knight in front of her was different from the Knight of Mists. This one was not only taller, but looked more like a high-tech robot than something out of a fairy tale. His armor was a reddish-brown with green and white markings, and the helm was fashioned to resemble a fox.

Suddenly and without a call for Papillon to surrender the Miraculous, the fox knight sprinted at her. Papillon was startled by the speed of something so large.

She braced herself for the incoming attack, but to Papillon’s surprise, the knight leapt high in the air and flickered out of existence again.

For a long moment, the park was unnaturally silent.

“Is it gone?” Chloé asked softly, clutching a flagging Marie to her tightly.

A sound to Papillon’s left revealed the answer to Chloé’s question, and Papillon whirled to face the knight as he flickered into sight again, arm thrust forward and palm held facing Papillon.

Her eyes went wide as a stream of gas fired from the a vent in the palm, straight at Papillon, who coughed and stumbled.

She silently thanked Nooroo because she was sure that without the kwami’s powers, she’d be unconscious. 

As it stood, she was helpless to resist as the knight grabbed her and pulled the earring free, saying, “I’ll take that, thanks!” in a heavily modulated voice.

He dropped her to the ground and gave a cheeky salute. “Later,” he said right before a blast of red light slammed into him, hurling him a dozen meters away, crashing into and destroying a tree.

Papillon struggled to turn her head, only to see her friends had arrived astride unicorns with Ladybug riding Arcus while she held her rod pointed at the spot the knight had very recently occupied.

Unable to say it herself as she continued coughing, Papillon felt gratitude as Chloé voiced her thoughts, asking “What the hell?”

“We’re riding fucking unicorns!” Nino answered, looking about as hyped as a person could be.

“How?” Papillon managed to croak out as Adrien helped her to her feet.

Ladybug answered with a dreamy look in her eye, “It was Masked Cat! She arrived and told me that as long as we have love on our side, we can’t lose to these minions of evil! She always arrives right in the nick of time to save the day!”

Adrien scoffed, keeping his voice low as he said, “This Masked Cat didn’t really do anything except say that and take off claiming her job was done.”

“At least she brought you unicorns,” Papillon offered as the gas’ effects faded. She very carefully didn’t mention that Adrien’s tone sounded a lot like her dad’s when questioning her about any boy she might be interested in.

“Yeah, okay,” Adrien admitted begrudgingly. “They are pretty cool.”

“Ow,” the knight said as he noisily clambered to his feet, separating himself from the charred remains of the tree. “What was that?”

Papillon decided this knight was an odd one to say the least. The Knight of Mists had been all menace and doom while this one seemed… unprofessional somehow.

“Earring,” Papillon coughed out before clearing her throat and trying again. “He’s got my earring.”

The knight tilted his head, curiously at the assembled heroes. 

“Nope, not doing this,” he said and began to flee, which Papillon was forced to admit was a pretty smart strategy.

“Plagg, claws out!” Marie yelled and with a weary roll of his eyes, the kwami obeyed the call, transforming his bearer.

Chat Noir leapt high in the air, landing on the knight’s shoulders just as he started to flicker out of existence again.

“Hey!” the knight yelled, trying to throw her off. “Quit that!”

Chat Noir snarled and dug her staff into the ground in front of them, flipping the knight and herself over onto the ground. 

As the knight tried to stand again, he found Ladybug’s rod pointed right at his face.

“Surrender, villain!” she declared, smiling. “Give us the earring and we’ll let you go in peace!”

“Or in pieces if you try anything,” Chat Noir growled menacingly. “Your choice.”

“Wow,” the knight said, focused on Ladybug. “You’re pretty.”

That… was not what Papillon expected, she had to admit.

Ladybug echoed her thoughts by staggering back a step and exclaiming, “W-what?”

With a snarl, Chloé started to charge the knight, shouting, “You keep your eyes to yourself, you creep!”

Papillon grabbed Chloé around the waist before she could rush headlong into danger. Again.

She and Chloé needed to have a long talk about the proper response to heavily armed supervillains.

Chloé’s struggle was brought to a halt as steam hissed out of the knight’s chest and a compartment opened. Out climbed a boy Papillon guessed was the same age or even younger than Ladybug. With a cheeky grin, the boy stood in front of the princess scratching the back of his head.

Papillon squinted, getting a better look at the newcomer. He looked very much like a younger version of herself, although a very scruffy version. Like her, the boy had thick black hair and wide blue eyes, but his hair was short and stood up in messy spikes, and his face was thin with a few odd scratches and scrapes. He was short even for his age, dressed in a black t-shirt with writing on it that looked like Japanese graffiti and grey pants with lots of cargo pockets, and a pair of high-top sneakers held together with duct tape and reflective patches. He didn’t look like a well-cared-for child, Marinette thought with some concern, but his head was held high and his eyes were bright with mischief. 

Once again, Papillon found her world turned upside down. 

“I have no idea what is happening here,” Chloé muttered beside her.

“Hi,” the boy said to Ladybug, extending his hand towards her. “I’m Marin! Who’re you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is later than I'd like, but not been feeling great today and had a stupidly overwhelming project at work. 
> 
> As I said at the start of the chapter, there's some angst in here. All I can say is this is the part where things start looking dark for the heroes and their mettle is tested. Of course, I think it's safe to say they'll pull through stronger than ever.


	4. Meet Foxglove, Hero of New Paris

_Alright, time to rewind and recap for those too slow to catch the footage the first time._

_My name’s Marin. I used to be a street rat, a thief, a nobody… Emphasis on “used to be.”_

_Now I’m a superhero._

_You don’t know me by my real name. Why would you? No, one cares about another starving kid on the streets. But they know Foxglove, champion of New Paris in the year 3145._

_Two years ago, my entire life changed when I broke into Agreste Corp headquarters to see what I could scrounge up to sell on the black market. Yeah, yeah, I know. Stealing is wrong and all that, but I’ve got a pack of down on their luck kids to feed and food ain’t cheap. Anyways I’m on the run from security when I stumble into a secret lab and while I’m trying to lock the door behind me, I somehow turn on this device that zaps me good and what do you know? Now I’ve got a psychic bond to TR-IX, the AI which controls the Foxglove Stealth Armor._

_Since then, TR-IX and me are partners, and we rob from the rich to give to the poor, which is pretty much anybody who ain’t a corp exec._

_Look, I know what you’re thinking. What I do ain’t strictly legal so to speak, but that’s okay. Someone’s gotta stick up for the little guy and I guess that somebody’s going to be me._

_So no matter how many thugs in super-armor Agreste Corporation throws at me trying to get TR-IX back, I’m always ready to scrap with ‘em because the only thing standing between the people of New Paris and Agreste Corporation taking control of everything is me._

_There’s only one Foxglove._

_And you’re looking at him._

* * *

Ladybug looked at the offered hand like someone was trying to give her a week-old dead fish.

“I’m Lovely Ladybug,” she replied, hesitantly.

“You sure are,” Marin said, grin widening even further.

Ladybug took another step back, eyes narrowed.

Papillon thought that was sensible, but she had other problems.

“Chloé,” she said, slowly and carefully. “You’re not going to kill the kid if I let you go, are you?”

Chloé pulled out of Papillon’s grip and straightened her jacket as she gave Papillon a withering stare. Voice dripping with sarcasm, she replied, “I think I can control myself. You have to admit his voice inside the suit sounded much older.”

“Yeah, it did,” Papillon said, and the pair started walking towards the newcomer.

They were quickly joined by Adrien and the rest.

Marin dropped his hand with a shrug. “So… um… come here often?”

“Is he using pick-up lines on her?” Adrien asked, scandalized.

Ladybug seemed not to catch on to that possibility and responded, “Oh, not often. I come from another universe.”

“Another universe,” Marin said like a light bulb went off in his head. “Is that what this is?” He looked around in curiosity and added, “Makes sense I guess with that weird colored light thing we went through.”

“We?” Ladybug asked, but Marin’s attention focused on Papillon and the rest arriving.

“Done shooting at me?” he asked, scowling. “You could have hurt somebody.”

Papillon gritted her teeth. She could see this version of her was going to be difficult. Maybe it was karma for her earlier screw-up with Chloé.

“You did attack us,” she pointed out, reminding herself that he was just a kid and losing her temper would just make things worse. “And you stole my earring.”

“Whatever,” Marin replied. “Take your pointy-headed horses and go talk to someone who gives a crap.”

“How about we stay right here and you give us back what you stole?” Adrien said.

It occurred to Papillon that Chat Noir was being awfully quiet, so she turned her attention to the brash hero to find her sitting on the ground and looking like she might pass out any second.

“Hey,” Papillon said, kneeling beside her friend. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

Ladybug stepped towards them, no doubt to offer her healing services, but Papillon fixed her with a stare, saying, “No, you can use your magic if the doctors can’t help her. You’ve already pushed past your limits once today, and I can’t afford to have two heroes out of commission.”

Ladybug’s scowl matched Marin’s in ferocity, but she didn’t argue.

“I’m fine,” Chat Noir insisted, but found herself outnumbered as Chloé joined Papillon.

“You lost an ear, you idiot,” she admonished the wounded hero. “Quit being brave and let us help you, Chat Noir.” 

A high-pitched, tinny voice asked, “Chat Noir?”

Papillon turned to see Marin facepalming while the suit of armor, moving of its own will, turned to examine Papillon and her two companions.

“I thought a Ladybug might be a coincidence,” the armor said. “But a Chat Noir, too?”

“What is this, TR-IX?” Marin asked. “You know these people?”

“As you said, we’re in another universe,” TR-IX answered him. “I don’t know them specifically, but before I was installed in this armor, I was a kwami in our universe.”

Papillon’s eyes went wide, but she and everyone else were too stunned to speak as the two continued to argue.

“Too bad I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marin countered.

“That’s because I prefer not to discuss it,” TR-IX replied. “But I won’t abandon wielders of the Miraculous if they’re in trouble.”

“No,” Marin interrupted. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, TR-IX, but we gotta go.”

The armor, who Papillon assumed must be TR-IX, scoffed. “You weren’t in a hurry a second ago.”

“Yeah,” Marin complained. “That’s because I was talking to a pretty girl!” 

Ladybug let out an embarrassed squeak which earned her a blushing, uncertain smile from Marin before he turned back to TR-IX. “But this was supposed to be a quick smash and grab. We’ve smashed. We’ve grabbed. Now, we go.”

“I’ve scanned Chat Noir,” TR-IX explained. “She’s wounded and we can help.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Marin shrugged. “I saw her take the sword to the head. It’s her own fault she’s too slow if you ask me,” he said before Chloé roughly grabbed him by the collar.

In a low, threatening voice she said, “Keep talking about her like that, and I’ll make you regret every decision you’ve made in your life.”

Marin pushed her away and eyed her warily. “Okay, you’re scary, and that’s coming from a guy that fights killer robots for a living.”

“You steal for a living,” TR-IX corrected.

“Same thing,” Marin replied with a shrug. “Anyway there’s nothing we can do for someone that got half her head cut… off…” He trailed off, squinting as he began to catch on to what TR-IX intended. “No! No, TR-IX! Those cost way too much to give to a stranger!”

“This isn’t a debate, Marin,” TR-IX said.

“You traitor,” Marin griped. “You know how much stuff I had to give up to get those!”

“And now we’re using them for their intended purpose,” TR-IX added.

“I hate to interrupt,” Papillon said. “But Chat Noir is bleeding out, and we’re not safe here.”

“We will follow where you lead,” TR-IX offered. “I assume you wield the Butterfly Miraculous?”

Papillon nodded. “My home is safe. Moth Queen can’t track us there.”

“Moth Queen?” Marin scoffed, unimpressed. “Look, TR-IX, if you’re set on this just give them the regen-gel and let’s get out of here.”

“You’re not going anywhere with my Miraculous,” Papillon said.

Marin smirked. “I stole it fair and square so that makes it mine,” he said, pointing his thumb at himself.

“My sensors indicate hostiles similar to those recently defeated approaching,” TR-IX warned. “We should discuss this elsewhere.” 

With that he grabbed Marin and dropped him in the open compartment, saying, “Manual systems are offline, so don’t bother trying to pilot me.”

The compartment sealed, cutting off Marin’s indignant protests.

“Right,” Papillon agreed. “Follow us, TR-IX.”

“I’ll carry Chat Noir for you,” TR-IX said, picking up the flagging hero and cradling her in one arm with a delicacy Papillon found touching. As they turned to leave, TR-IX pointed at some nearby bushes and added, “And should we wait on your two companions still in hiding?”

A startled exclamation confirmed that someone was indeed hiding in the bushes.

Papillon braced herself and said, “Whoever you are, come out now.”

Two young girls shuffled out of the bushes and Alya groaned.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked Ella and Etta, her younger twin siblings. “And how did you even get here?”

“We saw you riding by,” Ella said. “So we followed you. It’s not like it’s far from home.”

“No,” Etta countered. “ _I_ saw her riding by and _you_ didn’t believe me, so we followed her and I was right. It was Alya riding a unicorn!” She emphasized her point by sticking her tongue out at her twin.

Papillon sighed, “Can we do this anywhere but here?”

“She’s right,” TR-IX added. “The hostiles will be here in under two minutes.”

“Fine,” Alya groused, and she and Nino helped a twin each up behind them on their mounts.

“We get to ride Unicorns!” the twins cheered in unison, and Nino’s wide grin expressed his complete agreement with the sentiment. 

She hopped up behind Adrien, and Chloé rode behind the princess on Arcus, who sniffed her and gave her an inquisitive look before agreeing.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Chloé asked the pegasus as she climbed up. 

“You smell like Princess Chloé,” Arcus answered. “So you must be a princess, too.”

Papillon rolled her eyes at Arcus’ very selective criteria when it came to riders.

Chloé’s smirk was insufferable. “You’re right. I am basically a princess,” she said, looking far too pleased at the prospect.

 _Of course Bourgeois would make a spectacle of herself at a time like this._ Papillon bit back a comment on her being even more intolerable than usual. No need to invite even more trouble, she thought.

Soon enough they were back at the bakery entrance.

“I don’t think I’ll fit in there,” TR-IX said, eyeing the door. “I can go into cloaking mode and remain outside.”

“Could you fit onto the balcony?” Ladybug asked. “I put a spell on the entire building to keep the Moth Queen’s spells from detecting us.”

TR-IX regarded the girl for a moment before answering. “Yes, that should work. Thank you, Ladybug. Also, sorry for leaving you to deal with this,” he said as he opened his hatch, dumping out an irate Marin. 

He landed with a thud and gave TR-IX a murderous glare.

“Inside with you,” Adrien said, not giving the mutinous thief a chance to protest.

Once inside the bakery, Papillon released a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. She also released her transformation. There wasn’t any chance Ella and Etta wouldn’t figure out her secret anyway if they spent five minutes here.

Marinette took a deep breath, preparing to explain to the twins what the situation was—if that was even possible—plus tell them they couldn’t talk about this with anyone else since it would put them all in danger. 

Before she could do that, Marin rounded on Nino and Adrien, who were trying to figure out the packet of blue gel TR-IX handed them before taking off for the balcony.

“Stop that,” Marin commanded, yanking the packet out of their hands. “You’re going to ruin it!”

Grumbling about old people and technology, Marin grabbed several cloth towels, poured the gel into one and proceeded to wrap it around Marie’s head followed by two other towels to keep that one in place.

With a gentler tone than Marinette expected, the young boy muttered, “There. Your ear will grow back in an hour tops. It’s going to itch, but don’t take off the towels until I say so, okay?”

Marie, looking visibly more at ease, gave him a quick nod and sat back.

“Okay,” Ladybug said in a harsher voice than Papillon had ever heard the girl use as she stared down the twins. “First things first…”

Her angry look broke into a wide grin, and she squeed as she launched herself into the twins, hugging them tightly.

“I know you aren’t my Ella and Etta!” she exclaimed brightly. “But I’ve missed you two so much!”

Without waiting for a response, Ladybug launched into a summary of what was going on, including the fact that the twins were her best friends in the whole world in her universe. Ella and Etta discussed it with her like all of it was as simple as explaining how to turn on a television.

Nino laughed. “I guess after riding unicorns, alternate universes aren’t too big a stretch.”

Marin seemed, as usual, unimpressed. He looked at Ladybug, the twins, and then the older teens before he asked, “Who are you people exactly?”

That earned him a sharp look from Alya. “We’re the people fighting an invasion from another universe,” she said. “And the last thing we need is you stealing Marinette’s Miraculous.”

“Whatever,” he said, changing the subject. “Why does it smell so good here?”

Adrien laughed at how cheeky the boy was. “It’s a bakery. Fresh-baked bread is the best smell in the world, right?”

Marin’s eyes went wide. “You make food here? Like, real food?”

“What other kind of food is there?” Nino asked.

Marin’s laugh was bitter as he pulled out a small object wrapped in foil. “Here, try a bite of a nutri-stick.”

Nino shrugged as he unwrapped the brown bar. He took a small bite and grimaced. “Oh god that’s terrible.”

Marin nodded and re-wrapped the bar, putting it back in his pocket. “Yeah, well at least it keeps you alive.”

Marinette’s face softened. “Is that why you steal? To feed yourself?”

“No,” Marin said defensively. “Well, not just to feed myself. I feed lots of people by stealing.”

That caught Ladybug’s attention, interrupting her explanation of the inner workings of Magical Princess World as Marinette had started thinking of it. 

She took his hands and said solemnly, “That’s horrible. No one should have to steal to live. I’ll help you if I can. I promise.”

Marin reddened as Ladybug spoke. He mumbled a quick thanks and pulled away, under the pretense of checking on Marie.

Marinette had a sinking feeling of deja vu and wondered if she was missing out on some sort of cosmic message trying to clue her in on some deeper truth. She promptly rejected that idea on the basis of keeping her brain from melting into goo.

Alya gave her a smirk before taking pity on her enough to change the subject. “So,” she asked Ladybug. “There are versions of all of us in your world?”

“Oh yes!” she answered. “Ella is a junior royal guard working under your sister, Nora, the captain of the guard, and Etta is a chef’s assistant working for the royal chef, your mother, who makes the best cakes in all the world! And Nino is the royal composer,” she continued, pointing to each person in turn. “And Alya, you’re the royal seneschal so you’re basically in charge of the entire city and Adrien is Prince Adrien, the Masked Cat before the new Masked Cat appeared and Marinette is Princess Marisol, the Lovely Ladybug before me.”

She paused in thought and added, “And I guess that means Marie and Marin are also Princess Marisol.”

Marie nodded, taking it in stride, but Marin looked at Ladybug with suspicion.

“You mean she’s me in this universe?” he asked, pointing at Marie before pointing at Marinette and saying, “And her, too?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Ladybug said, smiling brightly at how quickly he caught on.

“But they’re old,” Marin complained, earning him a light smack on the back of his head from Adrien. The boy rolled his eyes and resumed adjusting the dressing on her head.

Ella tapped Ladybug on the shoulder and asked, “You didn’t mention Chloé. Is she there, too?” 

Both twins gave the mayor’s daughter a wary glance, having heard tales of terror from Alya.

Ladybug didn’t seem to notice their concern. “Yes,” she affirmed with excitement. “She’s me and I’m her!”

She released her transformation, becoming Princess Chloé once again.

Marin gasped. “You’re just as pretty without the fancy clothes.” 

He seemed to regret saying that aloud as he quickly ducked his head back down leaving a blushing princess to nervously resume her conversation with the twins.

“Reel it in, Romeo,” Adrien groused.

“Who?” Marin asked.

“Never mind him,” Nino smiled, ignoring his best friend’s glare. “He’s a bit overprotective of his surrogate daughter.”

Marin looked Adrien up and down as if weighing what kind of threat he might be before very obviously dismissing him and turning back to blatantly stare at the princess. “She does look a lot like the scary lady,” he said. When he noticed Chloé’s death glare, he added, “That’s a compliment, Lady. In my world, scary’s good. Keeps people from messing with you.”

Satisfied with that, Chloé returned her attention to the princess. “I believe someone was excited to have a sleepover?” she said with an affectionate smile that caused a surge of annoyance in Marinette, which she told herself was irrational as she shoved those feelings down. Her mood was given a boost by the princess immediately perking up again and performing a little shimmy dance to Marinette’s great amusement.

“Yes!” the excited girl exclaimed. “And now my best friends are here, too, so it’s even more perfect!”

“They came prepared at least,” Alya snarked, noting that the twins had chased after them without bothering to change out of their pink and teal pajamas.

Princess Chloé’s shoulders drooped, and she sighed. “I wish I had my pajamas. It’s not a real sleepover if you don’t have pajamas.”

Marinette stepped towards the girl, calculating. Despite the age difference of several years, the princess wasn’t much shorter than she was. There was a small amount of irritation that a twelve-year-old was almost as tall as she was, but in this instance it was for the best.

“I can adjust a pair of my pajamas for you,” Marinette offered. “It will only take a few minutes.”

The princess cheered, and Marinette smiled. She looked at Chloé and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll give her the nice silk pajamas.”

For once, her rival took the statement in good cheer, saying, “Flannel is warmer. I don’t want her catching cold.”

Marinette blinked. Chloé Bourgeois was putting substance over style because she wanted to take care of another living being.

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Marinette got Princess Chloé’s attention. “Okay, let’s all go upstairs. Princess, why don’t you and Chloé come with me and we’ll get you sorted?”

As they entered the family room, Marin asked, “Can I bring TR-IX in?”

“He said he couldn’t fit,” Marinette reminded him.

Marin rolled his eyes and Marinette decided that she was quickly becoming so over that habit of his.

“I can take TR-IX out of Foxglove,” he sighed impatiently. “It just means Foxglove can’t move or anything until I put him back in.”

“Fine,” Marinette replied, silently reminding herself that throwing a child out on the streets for Moth Queen’s drones to collect was wrong and bad. “Come with us.” 

First things first, Marinette showed Marin how to get to her balcony where he collected a small metal sphere from the Foxglove armor with a smile.

After he landed, he tossed the orb in the air where it floated and a hologram of a small fox kwami flickered into being above it.

The princess gasped with joy and introduced herself again.

This seemed to please Marin. He grinned and said, “Meet TR-IX in the holographic flesh.”

The kwami chuckled. “More or less.”

Marinette started gathering her sewing materials and the pair of pink-checked flannel pajamas she thought Princess Chloé would look cute in when she heard the older Chloé clear her throat.

Turning, Marinette saw that Marin was in a stare-off with Chloé.

“What?” the boy said. “What’d I do now?”

“She needs to change,” Chloé said, pointing to her younger counterpart, who looked flustered by the situation. 

Marin’s eyes widened, and he stuttered, “O-oh! I… uh… um…”

Whatever he was trying to say was lost to the ether as he rocketed out of the room leaving a laughing TR-IX in his wake. 

The fox kwami winked at them and flew off saying, “I think I’ll introduce myself to your kwami.” He paused and looked at them, his face growing serious. “Marin’s a good kid. He’s… rough around the edges, but his heart’s in the right place. He just hates showing it.”

Without waiting for an answer, TR-IX left, and Chloé shut the door behind him.

Marinette smirked as she started taking measurements. “You make a good overprotective sister, Bourgeois.”

Chloé narrowed her eyes, and Marinette could see her shoulders visibly tense. “Are you mocking me, Dupain-Cheng?” she asked, voice low.

With a small sigh, Marinette paused after noting the princess’ inseam. She almost bit back before she noted the worried look in the princess’ eye.

“No,” she said quietly. “It’s actually nice seeing how much you care for the princess. I mean that.”

“Are you two going to be okay?” the princess asked. Her fearful frown softened both older girls’ hearts.

“I don’t know,” Marinette answered.

Chloé nodded. “We’ve got a lot of history.” She looked away from both Marinette and Princess Chloé, unable to meet their eyes. “And I’m not stupid. I know a lot of it is my fault.”

Marinette resisted the urge to argue that it was almost all Chloé’s fault, but she knew that would be a disaster and decided to ignore her anger. Too much had happened today.

“My mother,” the princess began and cleared her throat. “My mother told me that you can’t change the past, but you can always change the future, and the past is okay if you make things better because you can see how far you’ve come. It was the last thing she told me before…”

With a slightly trembling hand, Chloé reached out to stroke the princess’ hair. “Did your mother leave, too?” she asked.

Princess Chloé looked at her counterpart for a long moment before shaking her head. “No, she… she cast a spell to stop the Moth Queen when all hope had been lost. It was similar to the shield I put up today at school, but it protected the whole kingdom.”

The girl sat on the bed and scuffed her bare feet on the floor. “That’s how Marisol came to be Lovely Ladybug. I was pretty awful and didn’t deserve to be a princess at all really.”

She wiped away a tear and both older girls sat with her, one on each side, holding a hand.

Marinette didn’t know what to say and hated herself for it. She was a hero. She was supposed to make things better.

For once in Marinette’s memory, Chloé had the words someone needed to hear. She pulled the younger girl into a hug and whispered, “She would be _so_ proud of you, Princess. I know she would. I’ve just met you and I can’t imagine a better version of you in any universe.”

“Would you…” Marinette had to stop to clear her throat and wipe away a tear of her own. “Would you like a few minutes alone?” she asked. “I can… um…”

Princess Chloé pulled her into the hug and Marinette couldn’t help but chuckle, saying, “You’re a great Ladybug, Princess. You have such a big heart.”

Standing, the younger girl wiped away her tears and made a victory sign. “That’s because I’ve got the best big sisters in any universe!”

Chloé scrunched her nose in thought. “I guess she’s got a point, Dupain-Cheng. I’m her and you’re both Ladybugs, so I think by that logic, it might make us sisters, too.”

“That’s one way to get us to stop fighting, I guess,” Marinette laughed.

Chloé scoffed. “Have you seen the Césaire sisters go at each other?”

The princess rolled her eyes and Marinette wanted to yell at Marin for showing her that move. 

“They bicker,” the young girl said. “But they love each other and would do anything for each other.”

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Marinette offered. “Maybe we try being friends first.”

“Alright, I suppose I could bring myself to forgive you,” Chloé said with a dramatic sigh.

“You just have to make it hard, don’t you, Chloé?” Marinette groaned.

“Would you trust me if I didn’t?” Chloé replied.

Marinette considered that. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“Great!” Princess Chloé declared and pulled them into another hug. She released them and asked, “Since your both kind of my big sisters, can I ask your advice?”

“Sure,” Marinette replied warily. This felt like some sort of trap. She felt weirdly reassured that Chloé seemed as suspicious as she was.

The princess’ cheeks reddened. “About Marin…” she began.

Chloé twitched and Marinette wondered if she would need to use Nooroo’s powers to save the boy.

“Don’t tell me you have a crush on that delinquent?” Chloé practically growled.

Marinette felt inexplicably defensive, although she did note the irony considering her own feelings earlier about Marie’s interest in Chloé.

“He’s just a kid,” Marinette said, although she had to admit her defense wasn’t exactly enthusiastic.

Chloé’s only response was to arch a questioning eyebrow. It was too solid a counterargument for Marinette and she prepared to concede the point when the princess interrupted.

“No!” the younger girl burst out before lowering her voice. “I mean, it’s not that. I… He seems to like me… I mean _like_ -like me and…”

Chloé’s features darkened and Marinette put a soothing hand on her possibly former enemy’s shoulder, deciding this was definitely the weirdest development in her life.

Visibly gathering herself, Chloé tried for a reassuring smile, but it came out as a sort of deranged grimace.

“What is it, sweetie?” she asked through gritted teeth. “I… promise to keep an open mind.”

“I don’t know how to tell him I like someone else,” the princess admitted, her blush turning crimson.

“Oh thank god,” Chloé exclaimed. Seeing Marinette’s annoyed expression, she explained in a tone that promised violent retribution if anyone dared disagree, “Our little sister needs someone who’s gentle and kind and has at least heard of the concept of manners, Marinette.” 

Again, Marinette found herself in the strange situation of feeling like she’d just lost an argument with Chloé Bourgeois and somehow okay with that.

Definitely the weirdest day ever.

“Oh but Masked Cat—” Princess Chloé began before looking as if she’d choke on her own words. “I mean… um… the person I think I might maybe think is sweet and nice is very kind and respectful.”

Chloé turned her weaponized raised eyebrow on the girl and stated flatly. “I want to meet this sweet, nice, respectful person before I give my blessing.”

Hoping for a different answer, Princess Chloé turned to Marinette, who matched Chloé’s arched brow with her own. “A true big sister always makes sure to meet masked heroes who steal the hearts of fair maidens before deciding just how fit they are to date.”

“D-d-date?” Princess Chloé stuttered out.

Marinette’s resolve soften, and she cupped the princess’ cheek with a warm smile. “I’m sure you wouldn’t have feelings for someone unless they were really special.”

Chloé grumbled, but nodded. “True. We princesses have impeccable taste.”

With that, the mood lightened. Marinette and Chloé chatted with the princess while Marinette altered the pajamas. Soon enough, the princess was leaping down the stairs to join her friends.

“Sorry again about earlier, Chloé,” Marinette said quietly when they were alone. “I was out of line.”

Chloé closed her eyes for several seconds as if debating her course of action. Finally, she said, “I was out of line, too, and… and I’m out of line a lot, so I’m going to take the princess’ words to heart. I can’t change the past, but I can try to be your friend now and in the future.” 

“God, this is strange,” Marinette admitted.

“Any stranger than your double kissing me?” Chloé asked.

Marinette thought about it and said, “Yeah, actually I think it is.”

Sighing, Chloé replied, “Good, I thought it was just me.”

As a sign of good will, Chloé even helped Marinette pick up her sewing materials and the scraps of cloth.

“I can’t promise I won’t slip up and fall back into bad habits sometimes,” Chloé said as they finished.

“Oh, you’ll certainly do that,” Marinette agreed, failing to keep bitterness from seeping into her tone. “But we’ve got something in common now, so it’ll be okay in the end I hope.”

“The princess is pretty special,” Chloé replied.

“She is,” Marinette said dropping the last bit of thread in the wastebasket. “Should we talk about the thing with you and my double?”

“No,” Chloé replied without hesitation.

“I find it a bit unsettling how much we’re agreeing tonight,” Marinette said as they went downstairs.

“It’ll make the princess happy,” Chloé said, smiling.

Her smile didn’t last long as they arrived in the family room to find Alya firmly declaring to the assembled tweens that there would be no spinning of any bottles. 

Marinette gave Marin a suspicious look, but he held his hands up and said, “Don’t look at me. I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

“I don’t either,” Princess Chloé added. “Is it a fun game?” Her innocent curiosity about playing “Spin the Bottle” ignited protective feelings in Marinette.

Tracing Alya’s glare to the twins, Marinette deduced just who had introduced that terrible idea.

“It’s a kissing game,” Etta said with a sly glance at Marin, who let out a nervous giggle before clamping his mouth shut tight.

“Oh,” Princess Chloé responded shakily, edging away from Marin a bit, who thankfully didn’t notice.

Chloé looked at the twins and asked, “So you two are being a bad influence?”

“No,” Ella insisted, indignantly. “It was Etta. She’s the one that wants to kiss Marin.”

Marinette stepped between the twins because the look Etta gave Ella promised a swift and merciless death.

Marin’s eyes went as wide as saucers, and he quickly slipped behind Adrien.

“And you don’t?” Nino teased, and Adrien tried to hide his grin behind his hand.

“No, that’s gross,” Ella answered looking disgusted by the idea, but Marinette noticed the quick flicker of her eyes in the direction of the princess before locking them straight forward.

A glance at Alya let Marinette know that she had seen that, too. Marinette felt a small amount of grim satisfaction that it was her BFF’s turn to worry about alternate universe make-outs.

Chloé clapped her hands together loudly and declared, “There will be no kissing. This entire building is a kiss-free zone tonight.”

“Aw,” Adrien complained although he quickly took a step back when a fuming Chloé turned on him. 

“I know where all the embarrassing skeletons of your past are buried, Adri-kins,” she said, her voice a mixture of honey and venom. “So unless you want your new girlfriend to hear all about Toddler Adrien and his strong desire to never be clo—”

“No!” Adrien shouted, clasping his hands and dropping to his knees. “No more jokes about kissing, okay, Chloé?”

Marinette laughed. “I can see being your friend will have its perks, Chloé.”

Alya sighed. “Well, it’s better than the two of you trying to murder each other while we sleep.” She narrowed her eyes at the blonde bully. “Probably.”

Ignoring that statement, Chloé continued. “It’s late, so here’s the schedule. There will be makeovers, scary stories, s’mores, hot chocolate, and a _very_ carefully watched game of Truth or Dare.” She eyed each of the younger contingent in turn. “Am I clear?”

“See?” Marin whispered to Ella. “Scary gets results.”

With that settled, the boys were left in charge while the older girls went to the kitchen to make hot chocolate and s’mores. Or to be accurate, Marinette made hot chocolate and s’mores while Alya smirked at Chloé fussing over a mostly-healed Marie, who seemed near fainting over the attention.

Alya had been right earlier. It was annoyingly sweet.

While Marinette was searching for marshmallows and loudly complaining about it being hard to find marshmallows in a kitchen attached to a full bakery, Alya noticed Marin had come into the kitchen.

“Something wrong, squirt?” Alya asked.

The boy shrugged grumpily. “They’re playing with face paint.”

“Makeup,” Chloé corrected. 

“Whatever,” Marin replied. He looked like he was having an internal debate, but after a long moment of the girls watching him in confusion, he held out his hand to Marinette.

“Here,” he said, exasperated, and dropped the earring into her hand. “I was talking to TR-IX and he said it’s really important and people could get hurt if I don’t give it back.”

Chloé ruffled his hair and said fondly, “Maybe you’re not so bad after all.”

Marin opened his mouth to undoubtedly ruin the moment, but before he could, Etta poked her head into the kitchen. Whichever girl had been doing her makeup had a deft touch as the eyeliner brought out her bright, hazel eyes perfectly.

“Hi, Marin,” she cooed. “Aren’t you going to come sit with us?”

The boy in question opened his mouth and closed it three times before managing a quiet, “Wow…”

Alya looked on the verge of a stroke as she gripped the counter edge with both hands. “Etta, I swear…”

Whatever dark fate was in store for the girl was cut off by Marinette intervening.

“Hm,” she said. “Did the princess do your makeup, Etta? Because she did a great job.”

“Nope,” Etta replied. “It was Adrien!” 

Then she ducked out while her sister and Chloé guffawed. Marin very unsubtly trailed after her.

“There’s nothing wrong with Adrien doing a girl’s makeup,” Marinette sniffed.

“Oh, please,” Chloé smirked. “He and I trade tips all the time. We were laughing at the look on your face.”

Alya was out of breath from laughing so hard. “I’m laughing because he’s so much better with makeup than you are, Marinette.”

Marinette was quite aware of that, which was why she had looked so dismayed. As a retort, she decided to go with Marin’s trademarked eye roll while she clipped the earring back in place, feeling closer to Tikki immediately. It almost hurt to feel that presence again, reminding her that her kwami was still missing and all the fighting they’d been through had done nothing to bring her back. But she couldn’t dwell on that now, not with people around who needed caring for far more than she did. She lifted her chin and put on a playful expression.

“Let’s just get the snacks out there before Etta and Marin elope,” she remarked. That stopped Alya’s laughter immediately. Feeling brazen, she added, “Or maybe Ella and the princess.”

Chloé whipped her head around and said, “What? What are you talking about?”

Alya put a kind hand on Chloé’s shoulder and nodded. “We might soon be sisters-in-law if Ella has any say in the matter.”

To her credit, Alya tried to keep a straight face and she almost succeeded.

Chloé sighed. “What is wrong with all of them? Can’t they just stay cute and innocent forever?”

“No,” Marinette replied, frowning. “But they’ll stay cute and innocent tonight if I have to tie them in their sleeping bags.”

“Do we have sleeping bags?” Alya asked.

“No,” Marinette answered. “I’ll make do.”

Fortunately, the rest of the night went smoothly under their watchful gazes, and after several hours of games, movies, and snacks everyone found themselves sound asleep.

Marinette awoke with the sun. The first thing she registered was that Marie must have been up for some time as she was perched near the window, observing the quiet morning outside. Her double glanced her direction as she stirred and gave her a shy smile before resuming her lookout.

Everyone else was asleep. Adrien and three of the four younger teens were stretched out on the floor while the princess and Chloé were curled up together on the couch. Nino and Alya slept side by side in the oversized chair Marinette’s dad had loved for years.

Marie motioned to Marinette, so she approached as softly as she could.

“Know them?” Marie whispered pointing down to the street.

Marinette nodded. It was Master Fu and Dr. Brisbane quickly making their way towards the bakery and sticking to the early morning shadows.

“That’s the Guardian,” she said. “I’ll meet them downstairs.”

Marie replied, voice soft. “I’ll wake the others.”

Downstairs, Marinette unlocked and opened the door as Master Fu and Dr. Brisbane arrived.

“We have news,” Fu led off with a warm smile. “Annette thinks she has a solution to our dilemma.”

Dr. Brisbane was all business as she continued where Master Fu left off.

“Right,” she said, pulling out some papers from the case she carried and clearing her throat. “Fu and I were able to get to my lab last night and based on what he told me of the kwami and my familiarity with Dr. Lassiter’s research, I was able to piece together a theory.

“I believe that your kwami, Tikki, with her connection to certain pattern sequences of dark matter traced to—”

“Wait,” Marinette interrupted. “I’m not going to understand much about dark matter and things like that. Mind giving me the summary?”

Dr. Brisbane nodded and smiled. “Not a problem. Basically, when you are Ladybug, you’re merged with your kwami, who is tied to creation. When you and therefore your kwami were pushed into the space that exists between the universes, your kwami and the energies existing in that liminal space reacted with one another.”

“Reacted?” Marinette asked. That sounded dangerous.

“Let’s just say,” Dr. Brisbane continued. “I’m glad it wasn’t the kwami tied to destruction that created a replicative cascade effect with the breaches, or it would have probably ended the multiverse.”

Both Fu and Marinette contemplated that for several seconds.

“Okay,” Marinette replied, feeling a bit pale. “Glad it wasn’t Plagg. Got it, but, no offense, I don’t get how this is relevant.”

“You aren’t sensing Tikki,” Dr Brisbane elaborated. “Basically what happened during your encounter is that energy tapped into Tikki’s power, which was connected to you as well, and two things happened. First, her connection to creation caused a cascade opening countless breaches across the multiverse. Most of those slammed shut almost immediately, but some have remained open because of the second part, which Dr. Lassiter called ‘anchoring.’ In essence, if an anchor is introduced—in this case you, Marinette—and a corresponding anchor in another universe is found, then a stable gate is created.”

“I… think I understand that,” Marinette said. “But what does it have to do with getting Tikki back?”

Master Fu spoke up. “Annette has found six stable gates, and you as Papillon have found your counterparts who have the Ladybug, Cat, and Fox Miraculous. I think the key to defeating these villains and reclaiming the other half of the Ladybug Miraculous and the Cat Miraculous is to gather the seven major kwami.”

“What are we supposed to do we do when we gather seven versions of me?” Marinette asked, curious, although she thought she had found a flaw in the plan already.

Dr. Brisbane gave her a wry smile. “We’re still working on that part, but it’s the best we’ve come up with so far.”

“We might need a new plan anyway,” Marinette said. “The first person the earring directed me to was Princess Chloé. She’s not my counterpart. Princess Marisol is.”

“It’s not the earring,” Fu said, cryptically before he asked, “Would you take off the earring and then please close your eyes?”

Marinette did as she was asked, trusting the Guardian had a good reason.

“Now,” she heard Fu say. “Do you feel that tug you described still?”

“It’s… yes, but it’s weird,” Marinette responded. “Almost like it’s pulling in different directions?”

“Concentrate,” Fu encouraged.

There. It was pulling in three directions to be precise… all above her and close by.

She opened her eyes. “But how?” she asked.

“Princess Marisol had a profound effect on Princess Chloé,” Fu explained. “There’s a reason both you and Princess Chloé were both chosen to be Ladybugs. There are many aspects to creation, but the most powerful of all is healing.”

It rang true for Marinette. There was something about the princess that made everyone around her feel whole.

She sighed. “I think you’re right. So… what’s next?”

Dr. Brisbane grinned. “We find the remaining three by tracking energies exclusive to liminal space, which should coalesce at the breaches. My suspicion is we’ll either find your counterpart near the gates or just on the other side. The fact you can’t feel any but those who are here means they aren’t in Paris unless they’re very near the breaches. Their energy signature interferes with my equipment unless I can get close, and I’m betting it’s the same for you.”

Master Fu’s face was solemn as he said, “Marinette, the invaders will surely be guarding these gates to other worlds. It will be very dangerous getting close to them. I can’t demand you try this strategy. This must be your decision.”

“No,” Marinette countered. “It has to be a decision we all make together. I’m not the only one risking something.”

That seemed to please Fu, who smiled.

“Let’s go upstairs,” she said.

They entered the family room to find the others were awake and waiting on them, except for Adrien and Chloé, who were nowhere to be seen.

Marinette knew after everything that had happened in the past day that she had no reason to distrust Adrien and Chloé together. But it still nagged at her a bit that here she was, mourning the loss of Tiki, and her brand-new boyfriend seemed to be confiding in her old rival instead of her. She reminded herself ruefully that Chloé wouldn't even need Adrien's support right now if the brat hadn't mouthed off at Marinette in the first place.

Anticipating the question on the tip of Marinette’s tongue, Marie, who had been waiting at the top of the stairs, nodded in the direction of the hallway, which led to her parents’ bedroom, the bathroom, and the stairs leading to Marinette’s bedroom.

“Why’d they go back there?” Marinette asked, puzzled.

“No privacy down here with the minions,” Marie whispered. At Marinette’s questioning look, she continued, “That’s what Nino called them.”

Needing to go elsewhere for any kind of discreet conversation made sense. Already, Marin and the twins were chasing each other around the room as the princess giggled at them from the relative safety of the sofa.

“I might have a plan,” Marinette said before going down the hallway towards her bedroom. She wanted everyone together before discussing it, though. If she was possibly going through gates, she couldn’t take the whole crew along and leave Paris undefended. No, it would need to be her and a champion, and who better to be her champion than her partner and boyfriend?

As she climbed the ladder, she could hear Chloé and Adrien speaking, and her smile faded and she froze on the ladder. 

Chloé sounded on the edge of panic as she said, “Well, you shouldn’t believe in me, Adrien. We both know that.”

“You can’t keep sabotaging yourself like this, Chloé,” Adrien complained.

“It’s better I sabotage _myself_ than sabotage that little girl downstairs,” Chloé snapped. “Marinette might’ve been cruel last night, but she was right. We both know it.”

“No, Chloé, I don’t know that,” Adrien soothed. “I’ve watched you with the princess. It’s been ages since I’ve seen that version of you. That’s the you I used to know when we were younger, when you helped me so much. I wouldn’t have made it through everything with my parents without you.”

“I just can’t do it, Adrien,” Chloé said, voice frayed to almost nothing.

“Yes, you can,” Adrien insisted. “And you won’t be alone. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

“You can’t promise that,” Chloé said. “You’ve got a new girlfriend and this alien invasion or whatever to stop. You can’t drop everything because I’m a screw-up, and I won’t let you. Not this time. I won’t forgive myself if something happens to you because you’re distracted trying to help me.”

Marinette closed her eyes and leaned her head against a rung on the ladder. 

She knew what she had to do.

Opening her eyes, she knocked on the door and said, “Hey, come back down. Master Fu is here, Adrien, and we’ve got a plan.”

She didn’t wait for a response, hurrying back to the family room, putting on her best fake smile.

It didn’t take long for Adrien and Chloé to join them, and she could tell their smiles were forced, too.

“You mentioned a plan, Marinette?” Adrien asked, taking her hand.

She was glad he did. She needed his strength.

“Yes,” she answered and then had Dr. Brisbane give her explanations again. Marinette noticed Chloé’s mouth tighten as Master Fu described Princess Chloé as an alternate of Marinette, but the blonde didn’t otherwise react.

Marinette was sure it was a blow to her, though, and would only worsen her doubts about herself. Conversely, Chloé’s reaction reassured her what she was about to propose was the right move, no matter how much the idea soured and twisted her stomach.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” she said, projecting confidence and strength she didn’t truly feel. “I’m going through the portals to find the people I need, and you’re going to stay here and defend Paris.” 

Adrien started to interject, but Marinette squeezed his hand and said, “Adrien, you’re still the hero most familiar with this version of Paris, and even without your Miraculous, I know you can coordinate the others, so I’m leaving you and Marie in charge. That doesn’t mean Marin and Princess Chloé don’t have a large part to play. It’ll be a team effort. I’m asking Nino, Chloé, Ella, and Etta to pitch in and help behind the scenes. Are you all okay with that?”

“What about me?” Alya asked.

Marinette’s smile was genuine as she told her best friend, “I did say you’d be my next champion, didn’t I?”

Alya looked thrilled, eagerly saying yes. The others looked determined.

Adrien stared into her eyes, and Marinette wondered if he knew she had originally intended to ask him to go with her. Finally, he gave her a quick nod of acceptance.

Master Fu spoke up. “Annette and I verified where the nearest breach is,” he said. “But it’s heavily guarded. I’m afraid it won’t be easy to get to.”

With a loud scoff and a sarcastic smile, Marin turned to Fu cockily and said, “That’s what you think, Grandpa.”

Fu’s eyebrows shot up. He wasn’t used to such disrespect. Marinette bit the inside of her cheek to keep from interfering. Marin might be abrasive, but if he had an idea, she wanted to hear it.

The boy didn’t disappoint. He poked his chest with his thumb and said, “Maybe if you didn’t have Foxglove, you’d have to waste time fighting.”

“Your armor turns invisible!” Princess Chloé said, excitement bubbling to the top. She jumped up and hugged Marin, whose brash facade crumbled as he reddened.

Marinette was amused at how nonplussed Etta seemed to Marin’s reaction to the princess’ embrace, and how nonplussed Alya was to Etta’s reaction.

“Settle down, everyone,” Marinette said, and they began working out the details. “First, I don’t need the earring to sense my alternates, so it stays here safe under the princess’ spell…”

Several hours later, Papillon and Alya found themselves strapped to Foxglove’s back, which put them inside the distortion field as they sped towards the gate’s location.

Master Fu hadn’t been wrong. Papillon saw there were dozens of drones and three knights and what she assumed was an akuma guarding what she could only describe as a crackling, snapping tear in the air that shimmered like asphalt on a hot day.

They stopped on a rooftop about a block away to give Papillon a chance to use her connection to the Miraculous to search for whomever she was supposed to find. 

Foxglove whispered, “You got eyes on the prize?”

Papillon closed her eyes and ignored the strong connection right beside her and the two others back the way they came.

“No, nothing,” she answered. “They must be on the other side of the gate.”

“That’s a lot of bad guys,” Alya said, and Papillon could hear the discomfort in her voice. 

Since Papillon couldn’t determine the exact nature of any transformation she gifted to a champion until she was already in the process of creating one, she’d made the call that she wouldn’t transform Alya until they spotted whatever version of Marinette had come through the breach, or if they had to go through the breach themselves. Otherwise, there was the possibility that whatever costume or form Alya took on might not fit inside the distortion field.

It left Alya vulnerable if they were attacked before Papillon could transform her, but it was a necessary risk.

She heard Foxglove’s quiet scoff. “Don’t worry. This’ll be easy. I’ll get you to the breach and they’ll never even know until I drop you through. You’re good with the release?”

“Yeah,” Alya replied. It was a simple mechanism that kept the netting wrapped tight to Foxglove, and Alya could easily reach the button that would free them instantly.

“Here we go,” Marin warned before turning on his thrusters and flying towards the enemy’s location.

The science behind the suit was far too advanced for Papillon to fully understand, especially how it could use mini-jets that were completely silent when Foxglove turned invisible, although she did remind herself that TR-IX had said that all systems except scanners were extremely limited because of the stealth mode drained a great amount of power.

In moments, they were within meters of the breach.

That was when the plan hit a snag.

The akuma, which resembled a very large wolf with bright green fur, snapped its head in their direction with a sniff, and before Foxglove could react, let loose a blood-curdling howl.

Papillon felt her body go rigid, paralyzed as the creature’s cry reverberated through her, and Alya appeared frozen as well.

Luckily, Foxglove’s armor protected him, and he was still able to move.

That was as far as their luck went, though, as the knights and drones turned to investigate the akuma’s howl.

With a groan, Foxglove let loose a curse, and Papillon reminded herself to admonish him for his language when she could talk again.

“No choice,” Foxglove muttered, and the air flickered around the trio. 

They were visible.

Wasting no time, Foxglove fired the same gas he’d used on Papillon the prior evening at the howling creature, and the akuma stopped its terrible call as it began stumbling and wheezing. Immediately, Papillon found herself freed from the paralysis the wolf had caused.

“Hit the release, Alya,” she commanded.

The netting instantly loosened and retracted inside the armor, allowing the two passengers to drop to the ground.

Meanwhile, Foxglove had fired several canisters to the ground two meters in front of them, which hissed as they released obscuring smoke.

“Smart,” Papillon said.

“Yeah, I am,” Foxglove replied. “Now get through that hole. I’ve got you covered.”

“They’ll just follow us,” Alya pointed out.

“I said I got you covered,” the armored hero reminded them as he threw several small black disks, scattering them around the area. Each disk had a blinking red light at the tip of a small antenna.

Papillon had a sinking feeling she knew what Foxglove planned.

“You’re going to destroy the breach,” she said. “How will we get back?”

Figures appeared in Foxglove’s artificial mist. Whatever they were going to do needed to happen soon.

“You’re smart for an old lady,” Foxglove said, and even through the modulated voice, Papillon could sense the lighthearted snark was affectionate. “You’ll find a way back and until then we’ll protect your city. I promise.”

Papillon knew he was speaking truthfully. “I trust you,” she said, and grabbed Alya’s hand and pulling them both into the breach.

The last thing she saw of her world was Foxglove rocketing upwards and the street erupting in fiery chaos.

Then the two girls were pitched forward hard, fully into the space between worlds.

Papillon felt herself coming apart, being pulled and twisted and her mind seeing impossibilities at every turn.

And with a final, painful wrench, the two girls were forced back into their original shapes as they crashed into the ground. Looking back, Papillon watched the flickering tear in the air seal itself shut.

Without her kwami-granted powers, Papillon was certain she’d be sick. Alya’s retching beside her confirmed that, and Papillon felt sympathy as her best friend emptied her stomach onto the dirt in front of her.

She held Alya’s hair back as the girl continued to dry heave. Finally, Alya seemed to recover enough to stand, although she was still so unsteady that Papillon had to support her.

It occurred to Papillon as she helped Alya to her feet that she hadn’t even looked around them to see where they were.

Obviously, they weren’t in Paris. The wide dirt road surrounded by ancient-looking trees let her know that, and besides Alya’s pained convulsions, the area had a stillness and air of solitude to it that indicated it was likely some distance from any cities or towns. 

And then she silently cursed herself for missing the obvious, which was the puzzled monk sitting cross-legged on the other side of the dusty road, eyeing them warily. Papillon wasn’t the least bit surprised to note the monk looked very much like she could be her sister, almost a twin except for the pale white-green eyes and shaved head, and now that Papillon had been practicing actively sensing her alternates, she could easily feel the telltale slight tug towards the monk.

Her counterpart from this universe blinked and said, “I’m not sure I understand what’s happening here.”

Papillon couldn’t help the short bark of laughter that escaped. “Yeah, that’s going to be hard to explain.”

She interpreted Alya’s despairing groan as agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like Marin a lot. He's fun to write. Actually, all the kids are fun to write.
> 
> And my apologies that rewrites are slowing me down, but it shouldn't be very long before this completes!
> 
> Hope everyone is having fun reading!


End file.
